Mobile Phone Users to Exceed 500 Million in 2000, UN Says
Geneva, Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The number of people owning mobile phones worldwide is set to rise to more than 500 million by the end of 2000, led by demand for prepaid packages, a United Nations agency said.
Mobile phone subscribers will increase from more than 300 million this year, with the fastest growth occurring in developing countries, the International Telecommunications Union predicted in a report on the industry. It also forecast that mobile phone customers will outnumber fixed-line users within the next decade.
Prepaid mobile packages have boosted the popularity of mobile phones among non-business users in Italy, the U.K., Mexico and other countries because they don't require a set contract or monthly line rental fees. In Italy, 74 percent of all mobile phone subscribers use pay-as-you-go services, while 80 percent of new mobile customers in the U.K. opt for prepaid packages.
``Prepaid has opened up a whole new market for operators to exploit,' the ITU said. ``If this model can be copied by developing countries, then one of the major barriers to achieving widespread access to telecommunications -- insufficient supply -- could potentially be eliminated.'
Revenue generated from wireless phones is expected to overtake fixed-line sales by around 2004, with the number of new mobile users growing at a rate of 250,000 per day.
Mobile phone customers already exceed fixed-line users in Finland, Italy and Cambodia, the ITU said. At the end of 1998, prepaid subscribers accounted for 13 percent of all mobile phone customers.
Oct/09/1999 6:22
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