Facts and Figures - mobile phone services worldwide
While some systems of payment are 'pay as you go' where conversation time is purchased and added to a phone unit via an Internet account or in shops or ATMs, other systems are more traditional "contract" ones where bills are paid by regular intervals (monthly) over a fixed term (12/18/24 months). Pay as you go (also known as "pre-paid") form more than half of all mobile phone subscriptions. USA, Canada, Japan and Finland are among the rare countries left where most phones are still contract-based.
United
Kingdom
In the United Kingdom there are approximately 67.5Million
mobile phone subscribers. Prepaid {Pay As You Go} customers
occupy some 67% of the mobile phone market. In volume
terms the operator 02 had the largest share of the market
with approximately 26%, followed by Vodafone, T-Mobile,
Orange, and then 3. Within the next five years the market
is expected to grow by another 50%. The UK Population
is currently 60Million, so the ratio of mobile phones
to people is 1.125.
Poland
In Poland there are approximately 36.7Million mobile phone
subscribers. Prepaid
{Pay As You Go} customers occupy some 52% of the mobile
phone market. In volume terms the operator Polska Telefonia
Cyfrowa, had the largest share of the market with approximately
34.%, followed byCentretel 33%, then Polkomtel 32%. Within
the next five years the market is not expected to grow
beyond another 10%. Poland's population is currently 38.1Million,
so the ratio of mobile phones to people is 0.947
Hong
Kong
In Hong Kong there are approximately 8.5 Million mobile
phone subscribers. Contrary to Europe the fixed term contract
customers hold the largets share with 56% of the market.
In
volume terms the operator Hutchinson had 25%, New World
Mobility 15%, SmarTone 12%, Sunday Communications 8% ,
other operators 40%. Within the next five years the market
is expected to grow by Hong Kong's population is currently
6.9Million so the ratio of mobile phones to people is
1.23.
Japan
In Japan there are approximately 94.9M mobile phone subscribers.
The Contract customers hold over 98% of the market. By volume
terms the largest operator was NTT Docomo 55%, KDDI 29%,
Vodafone KK 16%. Within the next five years the amount of
subscribers is expected to grow by almost 25%. With a population
of some 127Million people the ratio of mobile phones to
people is 0.74.
USA
In the United States of America there are approximately
125Million mobile phone subscribers. By volume terms the
largest operator was Motorola with 32% of the market, Nokia+LG+Samsung
@ 15%, then Sony, then other operators. Within the next
five years the amount of subscribers is expected to grow
by almost 80%. With a population of some 300Million people
the ratio of mobile phones to people is 0.42.
China
In China there are approximately 461Million mobile phone
subscribers. The Pre-paid {Pay as you Go} subscibers hold
65% of the market. By volume terms the largest operator
was China Mobile with 66%, followed by China Unicom. Within
the next five years the amount of subscribers is expected
to grow by almost 100%. With a population of some 1,315Million
people the ratio of mobile phones to people is 0.35.
Russia
In Russis there are approximately 153Million mobile phone
subscribers. The Pre-paid {Pay as you Go} subscibers hold
87% of the market. By volume terms the largest operator
was MTS with 32%, Vimpel Com 28%, Megafone 22%, Tele2. Within
the next five years the amount of subscribers is expected
to grow by almost 110%. With a population of some 142Million
people the ratio of mobile phones to people is 1.07.
India
In India there are approximately 150Million mobile phone
subscribers. Within the next five years the amount of subscribers
is expected to grow by almost 300%. Mobile industry players
are eyeing rural India as their new area of opportunity.
With a population of some 1000Million people the ratio of
mobile phones to people is 0.15.
Samsung hold about
7 percent of the Indian market but have plans to launch
eight new feature rich colour models in India in the first
quarter of 2008, including two entry-level phones, as part
of its strategy to corner a greater share of Asia-Pacific's
fastest growing mobile handset market.
Airtel controls 21% of the subsciber base, followed by Reliance
with 20%, BSNL with 19%, then Vodafone with 15%.
Note : Figures based on data available for 2005/2006 and are for illustrative purposes only.