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International Telecommunication Union: worldwide mobile subscriptions hit six billion in 2011
Last year, the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) told us there were five billion mobile subscriptions worldwide at the close of 2010, and now it's reporting that at the end of 2011, that figure hit a staggering six billion. China and India account for one billion a piece, and it brings us ever closer to having the equivalent of one subscription for every person on the planet. (According to the CTIA, there are already more cellular plans in the US -- around 322 million -- than there are inhabitants.) In a stat-heavy release from the ITU, it also ranked the most advanced telecoms countries, with South Korea placing first, Japan eighth and countries in Europe filling the remaining spots. Interestingly, the number of global mobile broadband subscriptions now outnumbers fixed ones by two to one, and mobile internet services showed the biggest growth rates in 2011: 40% worldwide and 78% in developing markets. The ITU attributes the latter figure to the relatively high price of fixed access in these countries, and the increasing availability of mobile alternatives. The CTIA also commented on mobile broadband use, reporting that from July 2011 to June this year, Americans consumed 104 percent more data -- no doubt due, in part, to people taking advantage of expanding 4G coverage. As usual, we've given you the cheat sheet, so if you'd like the full reports and have got a thing for statistics, there's plenty more in the source links below. [Image credit: Chris Jordan]
Dropped calls, slow download speeds rank among top gripes of mobile users
Everyone has an opinion, and if they all stink, then Pew must have one hell of a tolerance for foul odors. The research group recently surveyed a number of mobile phone owners to determine their primary complaints, and while it's not much of a surprise, slow network performance stole the show. In all, 77 percent aired at least some dissatisfaction with download speeds, and nearly half of all respondents cited frequent frustration. The story is similar for dropped calls, as 72 percent of those surveyed claim to experience the annoyance at least occasionally. While less widespread, the distribution of those who receive unwanted marketing attempts via either telephone calls or text messages is roughly equal -- it seems reasonable to assume that many respondents are harassed by both means. For more surveys*, just text #eng-123 to 9999. *Outrageous fees will apply.
Pew survey finds that 17 percent of US cellphone users go online mostly on their phones
It should hardly come as a surprise that folks are spending more and more of their time online on their cellphones, but a new Pew study released today has shed a bit more light on just how common that's becoming. According to the research group, 17 percent of all cellphone users (including those without smartphones) go online "mostly" on their cellphone, while 33 percent primarily use another device, and five percent use both equally -- a hefty 45 percent still don't use their phones to go online at all, though. Not surprisingly, those numbers go up when broken down by those who do at least use the internet occasionally on their phone -- 31 percent of whom go online primarily on their phone -- and there's an even bigger jump when looking at younger users. Among those 18 to 29 who use the internet on their phones, fully 45 percent use their cellphone for most of their online activities. You can find the full report at the source link below.
