Five billion mobile connections worldwide: study

Last week marked yet another milestone in the internet becoming mobile when the 5 billionth mobile subscription added to the count, largely thanks to emerging markets like India and China.

According to Ericsson estimates based on industry information, the 5 billionth subscription was added Thursday 8 July.

In the year 2000, about 720 million people had mobile subscriptions, less than the number of users China alone has today.

Mobile broadband subscriptions are growing at similar pace and are expected to amount to more than 3.4 billion by 2015 (from 360 million in 2009). Studies show that soon 80 per cent of all people accessing the internet will be doing so using their mobile device.

For some it's a question of convenience, for others a necessity. Mobile subscriptions allow people who don't have access to a bank or a bank account to transfer money; fishermen and farmers can get quick updates on sudden changes in the weather forecast, villagers to get local medical care, and children to access online education. It facilitates daily operations of small businesses and drives economic growth.

In more mature markets, connected devices rather than people, are driving the increase in network traffic. According to Ericsson's vision we will reach 50 billion connections within this decade.