The bean counters at ABI research are tabulating the total number of mobile connections all around the world, including broadband connections, meaning those who have 3G access, and predict that by the end of this year there are going to be over 1 billion people paying for high speed wireless. At the end of 2010 there were over 5 billion devices connected via mobile networks, and roughly 20% of them were using a high speed network of some sort. By 2016 that number is expected to blow up to 6.6 billion and 40% will be 3G or even 4G enabled. That’s 2.64 billion connections. You’d be surprised to find out which countries are leading the race to connectivity too. ABI Research Director Neil Strother says: “China’s and India’s penetration levels are nowhere near the 100% mark, leaving much more room for growth than any other countries. However, the strictly regulated telecom markets in these two countries impose high barriers for foreign players, which may slow the rollout of new technology.”
For every 100 people with a device that connects to the world via a mobile connection 11 of them are Chinese as of Q3 2010. Measured by total number of subscribers, Verizon Wireless fell to number 6 from their previous number 5 position thanks to both China and India. With a ballooning middle class and the rapid price erosion of smartphones, there are going to be more people using Android in China alone than there are American people at some point in the future. That’s just my prediction mind you, not that of ABI Research.
So what does this mean to you? Thanks to more people getting connected, and more people using their handset for things other than texting and calling, operators are now forced to upgrade their network. Newer hardware, based on newer technology, equals a better experience for you … that is until everyone figures out how to stream 1080p Netflix movies on their smartphone.