Half the Planet Now Uses Cell Phones–Sort Of

Worldwide mobile telephone subscriptions reached 3.3 billion–equivalent to half the global population–on Thursday, 26 years after the first cellular network was launched, research firm Informa said in a new Reuters article.

The past several years have seen particularly strong growth in both India and China, the two largest potential markets in the world.

But the article also issued a note of caution: “although mobile subscriptions have reached the equivalent of 50 percent of the population, this does not mean that half the people in the world now have a mobile phone.” Informa said 59 countries have mobile penetration of over 100 percent, meaning that some owners probably have more than one phone.

Worldwide Cell Phone Use Reaches 50 Percent [Reuters]

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