5bn mobile subscriptions in 2010: ITU

After reaching around 4.6 billion mobile cellular subscriptions by the end of 2009, International Telecom Union (ITU) expects the subscriptions globally to reach five billion in 2010, driven by advanced services and handsets in developed countries and increased take-up of mobile health services and mobile banking in the developing world.

"Even during an economic crisis, we have seen no drop in the demand for communications services," said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré, taking part in the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.

"And I am confident that we will continue to see a rapid uptake in mobile cellular services in 2010, with more people using their phones to access the internet." ITU expects to see the number of mobile broadband subscriptions exceed one billion globally during 2010, having topped 600 million by the end of 2009. With current growth rates, web access by people on the move - via laptops and smart mobile devices – is likely to exceed web access from desktop computers within the next five years.

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