India Hits 261 Million Mobile Subscribers

India had 261 million mobile phone subscriptions at the end of March, ranking it second in terms of the size of the mobile market—behind China. Wireless connections outnumber the 39 million fixed-line phones in India by seven to one.

[via MocoNews.net]

French Mobile Market Creates 100,000 Jobs

The size of the French mobile telephony market reached almost $34 billion in 2007 and was the source of 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in France. By the end of 2007, investment in mobile telecoms networks in France totalled almost $51 billion, according to the French Association of Mobile Operators.

[via Cellular News]

Mobile Phone Theft Highest in Cambridge

Cambridge (UK) is the worst place to live when it comes to mobile phone crime.

According to the Metropolitan Police, as many as 10,000 mobile phones are stolen every month, affecting 20 per cent of the population. The likeliest location for theft: the pub.

[via The Shefiield Telegraph]

African mobile subscribers surpass North America

Africa surpasses North America in terms of mobile subscribers, reports Total Telecom.

"The number of mobile phone users in Africa exceeded 280 million in the first quarter of this year and will reach the 300 million mark next month, according to Wireless Intelligence.

As a result, the continent has surpassed North America in terms of mobile subscriber numbers, with the U.S. and Canada together having 277 million users, the company said in a report published Thursday"

Most Chinese subscribers buy clones

As many as 60 per cent of handsets possessed by Chinese subscribers are clones rather than the real thing.

[via The Inquirer]

Australia now has more cell phones than people

Australia has more cell phones than people, according to government statistics revealed Monday, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

"For the first time, there was more than one cell phone for every Australian in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, the Australian Communications and Media Authority reported.

There were 21.26 million phones operating, a 7.6 percent increase on the previous year.

Australia's population at Sept. 30, 2007, was 21.1 million, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said."

Illegal iPhones, Apple of Russian Elites' Eyes

There are approximately 500,000 iPhone users in Russia -- a country where the phone is not officially for sale, according to Eldar Murtazin, head of analysis at Mobile Research Group in Moscow, citing data obtained from Russia's cellphone operators. The Washington Post reports.

"Russian people love anything that is forbidden," said Murtazin, adding that iPhone sales in Russia are the third-highest in the world, after the United States and China (where the phone also cannot be sold legally).

The phones are bought in bulk in the United States, and an 8-gigabyte model sells in Russia for at least $700, nearly twice the price in the United States. Still, the price of an iPhone in Russia has fallen dramatically since its launch in the United States last year, when they went on sale here for $1,800."

Picture from iLounge.

Global Cellphone Sales Continue to Rise, Report Say

Global mobile phone sales continued to surge in the first quarter, when shipments reached 282 million despite an economic downturn, research firm Strategy Analytics said Friday. The NY Times reports.

Cuban phone company reports 7,400 new cell phone accounts

Cuba's telephone monopoly says 7,400 new cell phone accounts have been contracted in the 10 days since all Cubans were allowed to sign up for service.

According to the CIA World Factbook, the population of Cuba is 11.4m.

A cell phone contract costs about $120 to activate — half a year's wages on the average state salary.

[via Cellular News]

Ad-funded telco reaches 100,000 clients in Britain

Blyk, a mobile phone service that offers a number of free calls and text messages in return for users accepting advertisements, said on Thursday it had reached 100,000 clients in Britain after six months.

[via Reuters]

Apple: Number of Unlocked IPhones Bought in US is "Significant"

Apple on Wednesday offered its most in-depth explanation yet for the current shortage of iPhones for sale,Cellular News reports.

"... Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said Apple had expected a sharper seasonal decline in iPhone sales, especially in the U.S. But demand, especially in the U.S., was much more intense than Apple expected.

Customers bought multiple iPhones at Apple stores, then unlocked them and shipped them overseas or offered them for sale online.

The current iPhone shortages, called "stock-outs" by Apple, point out Apple's relative inexperience in the cell phone business. Apple introduced the iPhone, its first cell phone product, less than a year ago.

To date, Apple has sold about 5 million iPhones, according to various estimates."

'Phantom' Voice Traffic Costing Billions

Some VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and mobile phone service providers are riding free when connecting to the traditional telephone network in the U.S., potentially costing carriers billions of dollars, according to testimony at a Senate hearing Wednesday.

According to Lawrence Sarjeant, vice president of federal legislative and regulatory affairs at Qwest Communications International, phantom traffic costs traditional carriers between $600 million and $2 billion a year. "Traditional telephone carriers have "made a lot of investments" in their networks and deserve to be compensated for traffic coming from outside the network", he said.

[via PCWorld.com[

DoCoMo losing stranglehold on Japan mobile market

After a decade as the dominant provider, NTT DoCoMo Inc market share fell below 50 percent. Reuters reports.

"NTT DoCoMo held a 49.7 percent share of Japan's total mobile phone and personal handyphone market at the end of March, down from 50.2 percent in February, the Telecommunications Carriers Association said on Monday.

The company said it was the first time in about a decade that its market share had fallen below half."

Verizon: 20 billion texts sent in February

Verizon Wireless announced that its subscribers sent and received close to 20 billion text messages in the month of February, just eight months after the operator's first 10 billion-message month, June 2007.

[via FierceMobile]

Phones to outsell TV sets in 2008

Consumers worldwide will buy more multimedia mobile phones than TV sets this year, according to a new report from Research and Markets. [via The Hollywood Reporter]

"The Dublin, Ireland-based firm predicts that 300 million such phones that can play audio and video and browse the Internet will be sold in 2008. Its new report, "Mobile Media 2008: The Third Screen for Entertainment," also found that half the world's population, or 3.3 billion people, now have a mobile phone subscription. "

iPhone SDK Downloads Top 100,000

Apple has announced that more than 100,000 copies of the iPhone SKK software platform were downloaded in the first four days since its launch on March 6.

[via Cellular News]

And so to bed... but not if you bring your mobile with you

UK's Sleep Council claims that some Brits would rather sleep alone so that they can check their blackberries undisturbed - or more accurately, without disturbing their other half.. The Guardian reports.

Twenty five per cent of British couples sleep apart on a frequent basis, with 9 per cent always sleeping alone, while a further 16 per cent go their separate ways about once a month.

A large part of the problem seems to be a kind of 'technology incompatibility', where one half of the couple is so engrossed with their BlackBerries or games consoles that their partners can't sleep.

What is going on here? One understands pillow talk, but is the world ready for pillow text? Moreover, what does this say about Britain? asks The Guardian. My guess is that the Brits are in good company.

New study on mobile data usage by the Pew Internet Project.

Nearly two thirds of Americans have used mobile devices for things other than talking, according to a new study on mobile data usage by the Pew Internet Project. Online Media Daily reports.

"The Pew report found that 58% of U.S. adults have used cell phones or PDAs for text-messaging, taking a picture, looking for directions or surfing the Web. A full 62% have either used a mobile data service or logged onto the Internet via a laptop away from home or work or via a handheld device.

Text-messaging and taking a photo were easily the most popular non-voice activities, with 58% of mobile users doing both at least once. Playing a game (27%), sending e-mail (19%) and accessing the Web for news, weather and other information (19%), rounded out the top five.

But on a typical day, only 31% used mobile devices for text messaging, and 15% to take a picture.

The study released today marks the first time the Pew organization has examined mobile data access. The Pew December 2007 study was based on a survey of 2,054 Americans 18 and over, including 500 respondents contacted on their cell phones.

6 million people hurt in the UK last year while texting and talking

Six million people were hurt crashing into lampposts and bins last year while texting and talking on their mobiles, a study found, reports the Mirror and according to ITN, padded lampposts are being trialled in a London street to protect inattentive pedestrians.

"A pilot scheme has been launched in Brick Lane after it was found to have the highest number of 'walking and texting' injuries in the country.

Injuries ranged from cuts and bruises to broken noses, cheekbones and even a fractured skull.

The research discovered 63 per cent of people concentrate so hard while texting they are unaware of their surroundings.

One in four would support "mobile lanes" on pavements to highlight the increasing number of hazards, and nearly a half back the use of protective pads around them.

William Ostrom of phone directory service 118118 which did the survey of 1,055 adults, said: "Britons are clearly text addicts so we need to make sure they are protected on the streets."

Filipinos And Chinese Vie As Top Senders Of Text Messages In 2007

Chinese and Filipinos vie for the distinction as top senders of text messages worldwide. China's texting fans overtook Filipinos last year, sending 1.6 billion text messages daily last year, while Filipinos sent an average of 1 billion texts daily.

China has over 600 million mobile phone subscribers, which is higher than all the subscriber in the ten Southeast Asia countries. The Philippines have an estimated 50 million mobile phone subscribers as of last year.

[via All Headline News]

Two Trillion SMS in 2008

The latest annual report from Research and Markets predicts that 2008 will see over 2 trillion text messages sent worldwide.

Dividing two trillion messages by about 3 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide, it has been calculated that this equates to about 2 text messages per subscription per day.

[via 160characters.org]

1 billion phones sold globally in 2007

With more than 1 billion phones sold globally for the first time, 2007 was a banner year for mobile phone sales, reports Conputerworld.

"Worldwide sales of mobile phones ended up surpassing 1.15 billion units in 2007, a 16% increase from 2006 sales of 990.9 million, according to figures from Gartner Inc.

Emerging markets, especially China and India, are now the driver for growth, with many people in those countries now buying their first phone.

Nokia continues to dominate worldwide. It sold 435 million mobile phones last year, and gained a market share of more than 40% for the first time during the fourth quarter, according to Gartner.

It is followed by Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG. Everyone except for Motorola, which lost its second place to Samsung during the fourth quarter, increased its market share."

People Prefer Shopping To Buying With Mobile Phones

People are more likely to shop than buy with their mobile phones, a market researcher said Thursday, reports TechWeb.

"In a survey of 2,000 consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom, Gartner found that 24% of people in the U.S. are likely to check for prices of items on their cellular phones, while only 12% were likely to buy products. In the U.K., the percentages are 18% and 11%, respectively."

China Mobile running 400,000 unlocked iPhones

As many as 400,000 unlocked iPhones were running on China Mobile's cellular network at the end of last year, according to market research firm In-Stat.

Apple sold 3.7 million iPhones in 2007, and more than 10 percent of them are in China, In-Stat said, attributing that information to China Mobile. [via News.com]

Related:

-- Missing iPhones May Be in Hong Kong

-- Apple Lost Up to $400 Million in Revenues from Unlocked Iphones

Chinese expected to send record SMS during holiday

Chinese mobile phone operators will benefit from the country's tradition of exchanging greetings during Lunar New Year as more than 17 billion text messages are expected to be sent during the holiday season, a possible new record, according to the Ministry of Information Industry (MII).

The projection means a 12-percent rise from the 15.2 billion of last Spring Festival.

MII statistics showed the Chinese cell phone users have sent 592.1 billion text messages last year, with a daily volume of more than 1.6 billion.

[via Shangai Daily]

UK. 5,000 SMS sent every second in December

The British love affair with text messaging shows no sign of abating as figures out today reveal they sent a staggering 57bn messages last year, with almost 5,000 sent every second in December.

[via The Guardian]

Apple Lost Up to $400 Million in Revenues from Unlocked IPhones

Analysts believe more than 1 million devices may have been sold and unlocked, accounting for as much as one-quarter of the company's total iPhone sales to date -- a number one analyst called "astounding." The Dow Jones reports.

"Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research said in a report Monday that unlocking could help Apple reach its goal of selling 10 million units this year. However, he added that unlocked phones hurt the performance of the company's iPhone business, since they generate no recurring carrier payments.

For every 1 million iPhone units unlocked, Apple forgoes $300 million to $400 million in future revenue and profit, Sacconaghi wrote in his report."

SMS traffic over the 2007/2008 New Year period increased by 30%

Acision announced that according to their figures, global SMS traffic over the 2007/2008 New Year period increased by 30% compared to the same period in 2007.

Around the world, phone users sent a staggering 43 bln text messages to wish their loved ones a happy New Year.

[via ZDNet]

Man called directory assistance 10,000 times

A 37-year-old Japanese man has been arrested after placing 10,000 calls to directory assistance. He did not need to get phone numbers, rather, he called because he enjoyed having the operators chide him.

According to News.com.au, his calls usually came late and sometimes exceeded 200 times a night.

[via boingboing]

What's the actual cost of sending SMS messages?

"What's the actual cost of sending SMS messages?" This article does the math and concludes that, for example, sending an amount of data that would cost $1 from your ISP would cost over $61 million if you were to send it over SMS.

[via slashdot]