A new report from Portico Research reveals that over half of the population of the entire world will have a mobile phone by 2008. The study predicts that the global mobile penetration rate will pass the 50 per cent mark next year, with a further 1.5 billion new mobile phone subscribers expected to join their ranks over the next four years.
Portico Research says global mobile penetration rate will be at 75 per cent by 2011.
It is now believed that some 65 per cent of these “new-to-the-world” users will come from the Asia Pacific region, rather than from Africa as has previously been though most likely, with the majority being from rural regions in countries such as India and Pakistan.
Portico also says that although sector growth in the mature and supersaturated markets like Europe will remain limited, the US is a different case and that, if managed properly, the nation could experience five years of sustained high-value volume growth.
Portico cites a monthly ARPU in countries such as India and Bangladesh at about US$3 to $4 and points out that the average European and US subscriber thus pays the equivalent of the annual ARPU of an Indian mobile subscriber in a single month or even less. Read more.
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