Increasing mobile cellular subscriptions throughout the developing world

29 Sep 2008

Mobile cellular subscriptions have significantly increased since the beginning of the 21st century, averaging a 24% growth-rate between 2000 and 2008. In 2000, 12% of the world's population had cellular subscriptions. Thus far in 2008, subscriptions have surpassed 50% and are expected to reach 61% by the end of the year, equaling 4 billion subscriptions worldwide.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), such as cellular phones, have been recognised as a necessary tool in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“The fact that 4 billion subscribers have been registered worldwide indicates that it is technically feasible to connect the world to the benefits of ICT and that it is a viable business opportunity. Clearly, ICTs have the potential to act as catalysts to achieve the 2015 targets of the MDGs,” International Telecommunication Union (ITU) secretary-general, Hamadoun Toure, stated.

“The significant increase in the number of world mobile subscribers is primarily due to high growth rates in the developing world, in particular China and India,” Sanjay Acharya, media relations and public information chief at ITU told MediaGlobal. “For example, in China, the number of subscribers has grown from 85 million in 2000 to 600 million at the end of 2008. In India, the number has increased from 3.5 million in the end of 2000 to 328 million at the end of 2008,” explained Acharya.

The BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China are expected to account for over 1.3 billion mobile subscribers by the end of 2008.

“One of the main contributing factors [of increased cellular subscriptions worldwide] is the liberalisation of the mobile telephone market, which has led to increased competition and a significant drop in prices, coupled with a high demand for mobile phones in the developing world, while many European markets are reaching saturation,” continued Acharya.

ITU recently published two regional reports indicating how mobile telephony is improving peoples' lives in Africa and Asia.

“Mobile telephony has changed lives everywhere. People with access to a mobile phone are better connected wherever they go. In many developing countries, a single mobile phone provides the communication link to the world for an entire community. Mobile phones have improved livelihoods. Business transactions are made on the go around the world,” said Acharya.

Mobile applications have opened doors to innovations such as m-commerce for producers such as rural farmers and fishermen to retrieve pricing information. These producers then have direct access to markets and are able to bypass middlemen to get better prices.

“Africa has pioneered many new innovations in the mobile arena. M-banking has been an innovative development for people to make small money transfers, especially in rural Africa. New methods of making transactions are foreseen, including airline boarding cards on mobile phones,” Acharya stated.

Broadband technologies can help overcome basic development challenges facing the developing world. Its usage enables a range of socially desirable and valuable online services targeting the MDGs in areas such as e-government, e-education, and e-health.

Mobile broadband subscribers are concentrated in the developing states. A number of developing countries, such as Indonesia, the Maldives, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka have recently launched 3G networks.

“With increased convergence, many new services and applications are made available to add on to voice, such as mobile TV and the Internet,” concluded Acharya.

Article published courtesy of MediaGlobal