5 Billion people to use cell phones in 2010: UN
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 16 February 2010, 14:36 IST   |    3 Comments
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5 Billion people to use cell phones in 2010: UN
Barcelona: The number of mobile phone users across the world will swell to five billion this year, said a UN telecommunication agency. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide has reached 4.6 billion and is expected to increase to five billion this year. "Even during an economic crisis, we have seen no drop in the demand for communications services," said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure. The number of mobile broadband subscriptions would exceed one billion this year after reaching 600 million in 2009. "I am confident that we will continue to see a rapid uptake in mobile cellular services in particular in 2010, with many more people using their phones to access the Internet," Toure said. In the developing world, the growth has been driven by the use of phones for mobile banking and health services, the ITU said. "Good examples include sending reminder messages to patient's phones when they have a medical appointment, or need a pre-natal check-up," Toure said. "Or using SMS messages to deliver instructions on when and how to take complex medication such as anti-retrovirals or vaccines," he said, adding that such uses can save millions of dollars and lives. People with no bank accounts but mobile subscriptions are also increasingly able to do financial transactions with their phones in developing countries, Toure said.

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