Global Wireless Penetration to Hit 80% in 2013, Says Portio Research

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Global Wireless Penetration to Hit 80% in 2013, Says Portio Research

6:48 am on September 28, 2008 | Category: Telecom Services, Wireless, Cell Phones

Despite more than a year chaos in world financial markets, the $1 trillion mobile phone industry continues to plug along at an impressive rate, and will continue to do so for at least the next several years, according to a report by Portio Research.

More than 50% of the world’s population now uses a mobile phone, and this number will likely increase to 80% (or 5.8 billion people) by the end of 2013, Portio predicts. Much of this growth will come from China and India, which are expected to account for more than 1 billion new mobile phone users over the next five years.

Africa, meanwhile, will boast a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.3% over the next five years. The Middle East and Latin America will also contribute substantially to market growth with CAGRs of 10.7% and 9.9%, respectively.

Revenue from mobile services, however, will not keep pace with global subscriber growth in the coming years, as Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) declines to $15.80 in 2013, down from $23.20 in 2005. This slide will be a natural result of runaway growth in low-GDP markets, according to Portio.