India and China drive global mobile growth to 4.7 billion subscribers

India and China are the driving forces behind the continued growth of the worldwide mobile market according to the latest quarterly report by Wireless Intelligence.

With the global subscriber base hitting 4.7 billion, the firm claims the mobile industry is bucking the current economic trend, with only eastern Europe and the Middle-East showing any real signs of slowdown.

On the whole, 192.8 milion new mobile connections were made in the last quarter of 2009, which represents an annual rise of 16 percent.

Total global mobile penetration hit 69 percent by the end of last year, according to Wireless Intelligence statistics.

Surfing the economic storm

"2009 was a positive year for the mobile telecoms industry and one that saw it outperform global economic trends," said senior Wireless Intelligence analyst Joss Gillet.

"Nonetheless, the fact that developing countries account for half of the world's connections today demonstrates how mature markets are reaching capacity. From Europe to the Americas, the prospects for the year ahead depend on how quickly mobile operators can boost revenues generated by data services.

"By contrast, in regions such as Africa and the Asia-Pacific, many price-sensitive markets require investment to expand 2G and 3G networks, which have been delayed by the global recession.”

As such, the world's two largest markets - China and India - remain at the forefront, India adding 53.4 million net subscribers to close the last quarter on just under 530 million.

China, meanwhile, picked up 9 million net subscribers per month last year, to end on 726 million connections 16 percent of the worldwide total.

Western front

Western Europe remains the second largest territory for the industry recovering from what was described as a "slow start to the year", with 519 million subscribers in total.

Wireless Intelligence also reports the States witnessed its strongest quarterly connections growth in three years, adding 5.9 million net subscribers in the last quarter.

Market leading carrier Verizon has 91.2 million users according to the firm's statistics, although AT&T boasted bigger growth with 2.7 million new customers.

The total global breakdown is:

Asia-Pacific (2.1 billion connections, 45% of global total)

Western Europe (519 million, 11%)

Americas (504 million, 11%)

Eastern Europe (480 million, 10%)

Africa (464 million, 10%)

USA/Canada (309 million, 7%)

Middle East (261 million, 6%)

[source: Wireless Intelligence]