An unbelievable 2/3 of the planet’s population uses cell phones. At the end of 2009, 4.6 billion people were cell phone subscribers. This is up from 1 billion users in 2002. Even in developing countries the number of cell phone users was up to 50% of the population.
67% of all people on Earth use cell phones!
The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) predicted we would reach 5 billion cell phone subscribers by the end of 2010. (See my blog 5 Billion Cell Phone Subscribers in 2010.) And according to the ITU, the cost for cell phone service has become less expensive, dropping by about 15% globally between 2008 and 2009.
Also included in this report were statistics for Internet usage. While cell phone subscriptions are rising rapidly, Internet access is not rising as rapidly. At the end of 2009, 25.9% of the population had broadband Internet access. Compared to the 67% using cell phones, Internet access isn’t spreading as quickly. The exception to these statistics is China, which accounts for about one third of people in developing countries with Internet Access.
I have said it before. The trend is for people to ditch their land line phones in favor of only having cell phone service. With the dropping prices from the major cell phone service providers, it only makes sense to keep the mobile phones over the stationary land lines. (See my blog New MagicJack for Cell Phones.) And with the growing popularity of Smartphones that provide effective Internet access, I see the numbers of cell phone subscribers rising even more rapidly.
