Report: 75 per cent of the world now uses mobile phones

WASHINGTON: -- The global address book for mobile phones has reached 6 billion contacts, and experts say the number of mobile subscriptions will soon pass the world population.

According to a World Bank report released Wednesday, 75 per cent of the world’s population now has access to a mobile phone.

The report estimates that by 2015 there will be 7.5 billion people in the world and nearly 9 billion mobile subscriptions.

The growth has been most rapid in developing countries. Mobile subscribers in developing countries made up 77 per cent of subscribers worldwide in 2010, up from 29 per cent in 2000.

As the population of mobile users becomes more diverse so do the ways in which they use their phones. The report found that over 30 billion "apps," or applications, for mobile phones were downloaded in 2011.

-- The Nation 2012-07-18

Would that make 25% of the worlds population mostly "destitute"?

According to a World Bank report released Wednesday, 75 per cent of the world’s population now has access to a mobile phone.

75% seems high considering all the really young children/babies in the world, the really-really poor who can afford a mobile phone/service, and remote locations where there are many people but no mobile signal. Maybe the word "access" really means there is service covering 75% of the world's population...now whether these folks actually have/use a mobile phone is a different story...and then of course you have people who have multiple mobile numbers/subscriptions. But regardless, yea, mobile phone access/usage is really wide spread now days, most anywhere you go.

According to a World Bank report released Wednesday, 75 per cent of the world’s population now has access to a mobile phone.

75% seems high considering all the really young children/babies in the world, the really-really poor who can afford a mobile phone/service, and remote locations where there are many people but no mobile signal. Maybe the word "access" really means there is service covering 75% of the world's population...now whether these folks actually have/use a mobile phone is a different story...and then of course you have people who have multiple mobile numbers/subscriptions. But regardless, yea, mobile phone access/usage is really wide spread now days, most anywhere you go.

more than likely 75% is referring to non-children and non-geriatric ....

the scary part of this report... the world just hit 6billion and is scheduled to hit 7.5 in only 3 more years...