ABSTRACT
Cellular mobile networks have been the fastest growing segment in the field of telecommunications over the past decade. Over 2.4 billion customers were estimated to use cellular mobile services by the third quarter of 2006. Even with such numbers the cellular industry has a long way to go in terms of both organic growth and continuous introduction of new technologies and services. The reasons are not hard to find. While the penetration rates in some parts of the world (such as Europe, Japan, Korea, and the United States) range between 70 and 100%, the penetration rates in other regions remain very low, such as in Asia (15%), Africa (10%), and South America (20%). It is therefore no surprise that the fastest rates of growth are occurring in these markets. India and China are adding close to 5 million subscribers a month and the regional growth rates average 50-85% for such regions. Globally we have been growing at over 30% per year (Fig. 4-1).
