50% global mobile penetration

3.3bn mobile subscriptions mark has been reached last week, or about 50% of the world population has a mobile phone. Remember, it was in 1981, when the first mobile network was launched in Scandinavia. Today, there were about 224 countries with at least one mobile network (from 192 in 1977, 35 in 1987 and 6 in 1982). While world population coverage is today about 90%, some 40% of the world population is covered by a network, but not yet connected, and 10% has no connection and is not covered. Mobile penetration has steadily increased, but accelerated from mid 2000 when penetration was only 10%. Five years later it was 30% and increased to 40%, just one year ago in Nov. 2006. Seven years were only necessary to gain some 3bn subscriptions. In parallel of this evolution, the weight of a mobile phone has been divided by 100: from 10kg in the 80s to less than 100gr now.