There are almost as many mobile connections worldwide as there are people and by 2019 the global mobile penetration rate will grow to 125%, according to new research published on Thursday.
Mobile connections will grow faster than the population over the next five years to reach almost 9.5 billion, U.S.-based mobile analyst firm iGR predicted in a new report.
In 2014 the world’s 7.2 billion people between them had 6.9 billion connections, including mobile phones, tablets and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. That translates to 96.4% penetration.
"This growth will be caused by both the addition of new subscribers in less developed regions and the adoption of multiple devices by subscribers in more developed regions," said iGR president and founder Iain Gillott, in a statement.
iGR also noted that alongside subscriber growth, we will also see a change in technology mix over the next five years.
2G still accounted for half of all mobile connections last year, while 4G technologies, primarily LTE, made up 6%. Over the forecast period, 2G connections will decline and 3G will become the predominant technology, iGR said.
