The International Telecommunications Union has said that mobile subscriptions will rise to 4.6 million by the end of 2009, advanced by a continuing mobile phone explosion in emerging economies reports Reuters.

Looking at it another way it means about 2 mobile subscriptions for every 3 people in the world, although people in developed countries often carry more than one subscription.

The International Telecommunications Union states their latest statistics highlight major regional discrepancies, with mobile broadband penetration rates low in many African countries and other developing nations; there is a single fixed broadband subscriber for every 1000 people in Africa compared to 200 per 1000 in Europe.