The number of mobile phone connections worldwide grew to 4.7 billion by the end of 2009, according to research company Wireless Intelligence. That's 69% of the world's population.
Over 45% of those connections were in the Asia-Pacific, driven by strong growth in India and China. Western Europe has 11% (519 million) of the world's mobile connections.
Joss Gillet, senior analyst at Wireless Intelligence, said "2009 was a positive year for the mobile telecoms industry and one that saw it outperform global economic trends. Nonetheless, the fact that developing countries account for half of the world’s connections today demonstrates how mature markets are reaching capacity."
[Source: SLA Mobile Blog]