India, China home to 35% of world's active mobile subscribers

As per a study carried out by popular telecom equipment maker, Ericsson, India and China make up for 35 percent of the 4.1 billion active mobile service users, globally. This number, the report affirmed occupies 60 percent of the world’s population. The  Ericsson Traffic and Market Data Report further added that, “Global mobile penetration reached 85% in Q4 (last quarter) 2011 and mobile subscriptions now total around 6 billion. However, the actual number of subscribers is about 4.1 billion, since many subscribers have several subscriptions." 

India, China home to 35% of active mobile subscribers! (Image credit: Getty Images)

The report indicated that in the last quarter of 2011, the two nations accounted for roughly 35 percent of the estimated 180 million net additions made. Reportedly, the number in India, fell from what it was in the Q1 and Q2 of 2011, and this the report attributes to the operators focussing on active subscribers. Further looking at mobile subscriptions, the report found that it grew roughly 13 percent Y-O-Y and 3 percent quarter on quarter. Roughly 75 percent of the subscriptions were GSM, while 15 percent were WCDMA/HSPA. Mobile broadband subscriptions, globally grew 60 percent Y-O-Y, while coming close to a billion. The report further added that, “There is continued strong momentum for smartphone uptake in all regions. Approximately  30 percent of all handsets sold in 2011 were  smartphones, compared to around 20 percent  for the full year 2010. However, only around 10 percent of the worldwide installed base of subscriptions use smartphones. This means that there is considerable room for further uptake. The study further highlighted that mobile data went ahead of voice in Q4 of 2009, while in the Q1 of 2011, for the very first time its numbers doubled that of voice.

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The report further added that, “data traffic doubled between Q3 2010 and Q3 2011, which is the same yearly growth rate as for Q2 2011. The quarterly growth between Q2 and Q3 2011 was18 percent.Mobile voice traffic has doubled over the last four years and continues to grow at a steady rate. The growth is especially high in regions with a strong increase in subscriptions, such as developing nations in Asia.”