More than 2.6bn mobile subscribers by YE2006

Pyramid Research has published its 1Q2005 Mobile Demand and Mobile Data Forecasts for more than 90 countries in the world. Based on new (unexpected) strong growth, they have revised their overall projections for mobile subscriber growth for the 2006-2010 period. The new assessment is 2.6bn mobile subscriptions around the world at year-end 2006, up 13%. The mobile user population should continue to increase over the 2006-2010 period with a CAGR of 8.7%, topping 3.5bn subscribers by year-end 2010. Growth would be fueled by developing countries. The Middle East/Africa (MEA) region is forecast to be the fastest growing region with a subscriber CAGR of 13.6% over the next five years, while APAC could have a CAGR of 10.9%.