The mobile networks section provides you with the latest statistics on the world’s largest mobile network operators, mobile-broadband adoption and 4G-LTE coverage. You’ll also find out about the average mobile data use and its cost.
→ 36 must-know mobile market statistics for 2014 – table of contents
14. The number of mobile subscribers worldwide
The number of mobile subscriptions worldwide was predicted to reach almost 7 billion by the end of 2014. More than a half of mobile subscriptions are expected to be in the developing world, compared with only 20% in 2008.
Source: ITU
15. The world’s largest mobile network operators
Serving over 790 million customers, China Mobile is the world’s largest mobile network operator according to GSMA Intelligence. Vodafone Group ranks second with 435.9 million customers, while China Unicom comes third serving 295 million subscribers.
| Network | Number of subscribers (million) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China Mobile | 790.6 |
| 2 | Vodafone Group | 435.9 |
| 3 | China Unicom | 295 |
| 4 | Bharti Airtel Group | 287.2 |
| 5 | América Móvil Group | 266.9 |
| 6 | Telefónica Group | 249.4 |
| 7 | VimpelCom Group | 218.2 |
| 8 | Orange Group | 184.6 |
| 9 | China Telecom | 180.2 |
| 10 | Telenor Group | 175.6 |
Source: GSMAIntelligence
16. Mobile-broadband subscriptions
There will be 2.3 billion mobile broadband subscribers worldwide by the end of 2014. In developed countries, mobile-broadband penetration will reach 84%, while in developing countries it will be up to 21%.
Mobile-broadband penetration is the highest in Europe (64%) and the Americas (59%), followed by Russia (49%), the Arab States (25%), Asia-Pacific (23%) and Africa (19%).
17. 4G/LTE market
The world’s 4G-LTE leader is South Korea where 4G coverage is up to 99%. Other leading 4G-LTE countries include Sweden, Japan, Canada and USA.
With an average speed of 24.5Mbps, Australia has the world’s fastest 4G-LTE network, while the average 4G speed for the US users is only 6.5Mbps.
Source: OpenSignal, GSMAIntelligence
18. Average data usage
2GB per month was the average data use in the US in November 2014, according to research company Chetan Sharma. The average monthly data usage per smartphone in the US in 2008 was only 149MB (Portio Research).
Mobile data usage is expected to grow 20-fold between 2014 and 2017. In 2015 mobile internet users in the US are predicted to download as much as 3.3GB per month on average.
19. Average cost of data
The price of mobile data continues to drop. The average cost of downloading 1MB to a mobile device in the US was $0.46 in 2008, while in 2012 this figure fell to just $0.03. In 2015, it is predicted to drop to as little as $0.01, according to Portio Research.
Source: mobiForge
→ 36 must-know mobile market statistics for 2014 – table of contents
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