Developing nations helped push mobile cellular subscriptions to reach nearly six billion globally in 2011 as about 660 million new mobile‐cellular subscriptions were added during the year, new data has shown.
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) latest data as at June 2012, global mobile penetration has hit 86%.
“Growth was driven by developing countries, which accounted for more than 80% of the 660 million new mobile‐cellular subscriptions added in 2011,” the ITU said.
The UN ICT arm explained that in 2011, 142 million mobile‐cellular subscriptions were added in India, twice as many as in the whole of Africa, and more than in the Arab States, Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) and Europe together.
And by end 2011, there were 105 countries with more mobile‐cellular subscriptions than inhabitants, including African countries such as Botswana, Gabon, Namibia, Seychelles and South Africa, the specialized agency stated.
The data noted that countries where mobile‐cellular penetration increased the most in 2011 include Brazil, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Lao P.D.R. and Mali.
By Ekow Quandzie