There are now an estimated 3.3bn mobile phone connections around the world, enough to cover half of the world's population, according to Informa Telecoms and Media, the research group.
Mobile phone subscriptions have risen 18 per cent in the past year, from 2.8bn at the end of 2006, as increasing numbers of people in emerging markets such as India and China have bought handsets.
Vodafone, for example, has highlighted India as a key business opportunity with penetration expected to rise from 13 per cent at the start of the year, to more than 40 per cent within a few years.
The actual number of people using mobile phones is a little lower (2.5bn) than subscription figures as about a quarter of users are thought to have two or even three mobile-phone connections. However, subscriptions - the number of handsets connected to a mobile operator and therefore in active use - is the key number tracked by the industry.
Mobile phone subscriptions have seen rapid acceleration in the past few years. The first commercial mobile network was launched in 1981 and it took 19 years, until 2000, to cover the first 10 per cent of the world's population. Going from the 40-50 per cent mark took just 12 months.
Informa believes, however, that it will become harder to reach the further tranches of the global population. It could take until 2009 to reach 60 per cent penetration, and 66 per cent penetration is not likely until 2012.
About 10 per cent of the world's population is not currently within reach of a mobile network.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007.
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