Mobile broadband There are 2.1 billion mobile Web users in the world.

According to estimates by The ITU (June, 2013) (http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx), there are 2.1 billion active mobile-broadband subscriptions in the world (this is people with a 3G or 4G connection). That is 29.5 percent of the global population.
• Mobile-broadband subscriptions have grown 40 percent annually over the last three years.
• Mobile-broadband subscription outnumber fixed broadband subscriptions 3:1.
• In developed countries mobile-broadband users often also have access to a fixed-broadband connection, but in developing countries mobile broadband is often the only access method available to people.
• Informa believes there were 1.9 billion 3G and 4G subscribers at the end of Q2 2013. See below for a breakdown of 3G/4G by country and definitions of 3G/4G.
• Ericsson (June 2013) estimates that there were 1.7 billion global mobile broadband subscriptions at the end of Q1 2013. This is forecast to reach 7 billion in 2018. The mobile phone (smartphone) will continue to be the dominant mobile broadband access device.

 

2) Top countries for mobile broadband

4G: USA is leading the world with 62.5 million subscribers to 4G networks, followed by Japan and South Korea. By market penetration the leaders are South Korea, Singapore and Japan, according to Informa (Q2 2013).
3G: China has the most 3G subscribers at 325.5 million, ahead of the USA and Japan. By market penetration the leaders are Italy, Japan and UK, according to Informa (Q2 2013).
• A 4G or fourth-generation network generally refers to an a high-speed mobile network based on LTE (Long Term Evolution) - more common – or WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). 4G networks deliver data, such as Web pages, emails, music or video, much faster than 3G or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks, which in turn were much faster than 2G GSM networks.
• The first 4G network was launched by TeliaSonera Sweden in December 2009, according to 4G Americas. While Sweden still leads Europe for 4G, rapid growth has led to USA, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada and Singapore overtaking Sweden.
• Price is key to 4G penetration – only two of the top 20 LTE operators charge a premium price for 4G, these are the Optus in Australia and EE in the UK. “Pricing 4G access the same as 3G has proved to be the most effective way to increase 4G subscription numbers. Operators that have done this have seen an increase in data usage, higher data revenues and a reduction in churn,” says Paul Lambert, Informa Telecoms & Media.

Global mobile 4G and 3G subscribers in Q2 2013: Informa
Country	4G subscribers Q2 2013	4G Penetration	Launch date		Country	3G subscribers Q2 2013	3G Penetration
Global	126 million	1.77%	Q4 2009		Global	1,750.3 million	24.55%
USA	62.5 million	19.61%	Q4 2010		China	325.5 million	24%
Japan	26.1 million	20.67%	Q4 2010		USA	225.0 million	70.6%
South Korea	23.0 million	47.17%	Q3 2011		Japan	111.5 million	88.3%
Australia	3.9 million	16.76%	Q3 2011		India	88.5 million	6.9%
Canada	2.3 million	6.7%	Q3 2011		Brazil	77.2 million	38.6%
Singapore	1.2 million	22.9%	Q2 2011		Italy	55.1 million	90.5%
Sweden	1.1 million	11.2%	Q4 2009		Indonesia	46.1 million	18.7%
Russia	0.9 million	0.64%	Q3 2012		UK	45.8 million	72.6%
Germany	0.9 million	1.06%	Q4 2010		Turkey	45.7million	60.6%
UK	0.7 million	1.77%	Q4 2012		Germany	45.1 million	55.1%
Source (4G/3G data): Paul Lambert, Informa (Q2 2013) Source (launch dates): 4G Americas					via: mobiThinking

3) Top countries for mobile Web users

3a) There are more mobile Internet users in China than any other country.
• China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) estimates (July 2013): that there are now 464 million mobile Internet users (unfortunately the full report isn’t available in English yet). In February CNNIC said were 420 million mobile Internet users at the end of 2012.
• More Chinese people access the Internet with a mobile phone (CNNIC July: 78.5 percent; end 2012: 74.5 percent of all Internet users), than with a desktop PC (70.6 percent of all Internet users), according to CNNIC.
• If these stats are accurate, then China has lots more mobile Internet users than there are people in the US - the world’s third largest nation.
• Analysys International estimates (July 2012): There were 450 million mobile Web users in China at the end of Q1 2012.
• The combined 3G user stats from China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom (August 2013) and suggest there are 359.9 million 3G users in China. While 3G isn’t essential for mobile Web access, it is the minimum requirement for high-speed mobile browsing.

Mobile subscribers in China by operator August 2013
Operator	Subscribers	3G users
China Mobile	750.4 million	158.7 million
China Unicom	269.5 million	107.8 million
China Telecom	178.6 million	93.4 million
Total	1,198.5 million	359.9 million
Sources: China Mobile; China Unicom; China Telecom		via: mobiThinking

Further reading:
• Section A: for all the latest mobile subscriber stats worldwide, including China etc.
• Mobile Web overtakes PC Web in China
• China: 1 billion mobile subscribers, 400 million mobile Web users and No1 smartphone market
• Why Asia will (continue to) dominate the mobile Web
3b) Four/fifths of Japanese people use the mobile Web, according to official stats.
• Japan has 134.8 million mobile subscribers (95 percent of the population), of these 107.5 million (79.7 percent of mobile users) are mobile Internet subscribers (TCA, September 2013).
• 99 percent of Japanese subscribers have a 3G handset (required for high-speed mobile). In February 2012 there were 120 million 3G handsets shared among 123 million mobile subscribers (Japan Statistics Bureau, March 2012)
3c) The percentage of people regularly accessing the mobile Web in Japan and urban China is more than double the US according to surveys by Forrester (June 2011)

Percentage of mobile subscribers accessing mobile Web at least monthly
Country	Percentage	Country	Percentage
Japan	47%	Hong Kong (China)	16%
Urban China	43%	Europe	12%
United States	22%	Urban India	8%
Source: Forrester (June 2011)		via: mobiThinking

4) Mobile browsing v desktop browsing

In May 2012, 10.11 percent of Website hits/pageviews come from a handheld mobile device, according to StatCounter.
• Growth in mobile Web penetration is strongest in Asia and Africa, where PC penetration is lower.
• The worldwide leader for mobile pageviews by a considerable margin is Nokia, with 32.1% between its two operating systems Symbian (in sharp decline, reflecting falling market share) and Series 40 (which is growing fast).

Proportion of global Web pageviews from mobile devices, by region, in May 2011 and May 2012
	Global	Africa	Asia	Europe	North America	Oceana	South America
Mobile pageviews in May 2012	10.1%	12.9%	18.0%	5.1%	8.6%	7.5%	2.8%
Mobile pageviews in May 2011	5.8%	6.7%	8.3%	2.7%	7.8%	4.8%%	2.8%
Top mobile operating system for pageviews, by region, in May 2012
1	Android 23.8%	Symbian 45.6%	Symbian 33.3%	iOS 41.2%	iOS 47.2	iOS 70.5%	Android 24.9%
2	iOS 23.0%	Series 40 23.1%	Series 40 18.8%	Android 33.4%	Android 38.3%	Android 23.7%	Series 40 15.1%
3	Symbian 20.3%	Android 6.8%	Android 15.5%	BlackBerry 11.7%	BlackBerry 6.1%	Symbian 2.0%	iOS 13.6%
4	Series 40 11.8%	Samsung 4.6%	Samsung 12.4%	Symbian 5.63%	Windows 1.0%	Windows 0.8%	Symbian 13.6%
Source: StatCounter (May 2012)						via: mobiThinking

• N.B. The above data is based on pageviews, the proportion of mobile visitors could be higher because the average mobile visitor surfs less than the average PC visitors. • More analysis here.

5) Most popular mobile browsers

The most popular browsers, determined by Web pages visited are Opera with 21.9 percent and Android with 21.1 percent, according to StatCounter (May 2012).