Global growth of subscriptions for wireless services will slow to 20 percent in 2006 from 23 percent last year, with the biggest gains in emerging markets, especially some African countries, according to a Strategy Analytics report released on January 19.
The research firm said that much of the growth will come from areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as more established wireless markets have fewer people left who have yet to buy their first cellphone.
By the end of 2006 there will be 2.5 billion mobile subscribers, up from 2.1 billion at the end of 2005, the report said. This includes about 400 million people with two phones or a separate subscription for laptop data services.
Global wireless service revenue is expected to rise 11 percent to $623.9 billion, according to the report.
While countries such as Russia, India and Indonesia were among the fastest growing in 2005 at 40 percent to 50 percent, African countries such as Nigeria and Algeria could lead the growth in 2006, the report said.
The global wireless service industry is expected to generate $800 billion in revenue in 2010, with emerging markets accounting for about 42 percent of the total.
As the number of potential new subscribers dwindles in well established markets, wireless service providers have been beefing up their networks to boost revenue with services such as music and video downloads.
Subscribers to services on high-speed networks should double in 2006, according to Strategy Analytics. It estimates that by the end of last year, 49 million high-speed wireless customers used services based on the W-CDMA standard, which is popular in Europe.
There were about 26 million subscribers for services based on another high-speed wireless technology EV-DO, which is offered in parts of Asia and by some US service providers, the report said.
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