6.920 billion connections; 6.915 billion people. Phones win. In your face, earth dwellers.
According to The Mobile World, there are now 1.32 billion fixed lines and 5.60 billion mobile. This compares with the US Census Bureau’s global population estimate of 6.915 billion.
Of course this doesn't mean every earthling has a phone, just that there are enough pampered Westerners with two, three of more to take the total past the population milestone.
John Tysoe, principal analyst at The Mobile World, said: “Since the turn of the century, the world’s mobile phone base has grown more than tenfold, to the point where mobile connections outnumber fixed lines by four to one.
“While this figure does not imply 100 per cent universal phone access, that goal is coming closer. The industry continues to defy predictions that the rate of progress must slow"
He added that 2010 was the industry’s first trillion dollar year and produced more new customers than any previous year with 200m net additions in the final quarter alone.
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The mobile phone is also the “most owned” object in the world – having overtaken the toothbrush.
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