Mobile phones are fast becoming ubiquitous. In Japan, seven out of 10 people have cell-phone accounts, and in other countries such as Italy, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the market penetration of mobile phones has already exceeded 100%.i In the United States, however, penetration rates remain much lower (55%), and in China fewer than one in four people now owns a mobile phone.ii Even so, one study has forecast that the worldwide total number of mobile-phone subscribers will approach over 2 billion by the end of 2005.iii

And people aren’t using their cell phones just for conversations. In fact, over 40% of users worldwide actively access services such as messaging, games and news content.iv Additionally, a recent study in the United Kingdom indicated that the demand for both voice and data services (such as text messaging and multimedia messaging services) continues to grow.v In Japan, third-generation data services have reached significant levels of penetration, and wireless hand-held devices available in Europe and other parts of Asia can now deliver the convergence of video, data and audio to serve as mobile TVs. The United States lags behind those markets, but even then more than one-third of U.S. cell-phone owners (a total of 38 million people) now use text messaging regularly and 8% use picture or multimedia messaging services.vi

i. D. Pringle, “Slower Growth Hits Cellphone Services Overseas,” Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2005, p. A1.ii. “2005 Global Mobile Communications Moving Towards 3G,” March 2005, www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/296002.iii. “Total Mobile Subscribers Top 1.8 Billion,” May 18, 2005, www.mobile-tracker.net/archives/2005/05/18/mobile-subcribers-worldwide. This study also emphasizes that the fastest penetration growth is in China and India.iv. A.T. Kearney/University of Cambridge, “2004 Mobinet Index,” July 2004, www.atkearney.com/shared_res/pdf/mobinet_Extracts_2004_S.pdf. This research study reports that the use of mobile data services such as games, messaging and news content represents a fourfold increase from the previous year.v. OFCOM, “The Communications Market 2004 – Telecommunications,” August 2004, http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/cm/cmpdf/telecoms.pdf. This report published by U.K. regulator OFCOM contains information on the evolution of voice and data volume related to mobile phone usage.vi. Enpocket, “Enpocket’s Mobile Media Monitor Charts Strong Adoption of US Mobile Data Services,” May 18, 2004,