Worldwide cellphone usage doubles

You've probably already figured this out, given the number of shouted conversations you're forced to listen to each day, but now it's official: The International Telecommunications Union has announced that global cellphone usage has doubled over the past four years, to nearly 1.5 billion customers. While you might assume that the majority of those customers are in your face, er, neighborhood, most of the growth has actually been in emerging markets, including China, India and Russia. China has 310 million cellphone users, or about a quarter of its population. Developing countries now account for 56% of all cellphone users, and for 79% of usage growth, according to the ITU.