GSM hits a billion, mobile data 100 million

There is forecast to be more than a billion users of GSM-based mobile phones by the end of this quarter, with the standard's backers claiming its growth is outpacing the competition.

In a statement to highlight the upcoming milestone, GSM Association CEO Rob Conway said that GSM outperformed the market and "reinforced its position as the global standard for mobile communications".

By the end of 2003, there were just over 1.3 billion mobile phone users worldwide, with CDMA - at 181 million - leading the pack of competing technologies and being the only other one experiencing robust growth.

Meanwhile, analysts have this week noted that more than 100 million people worldwide now use mobile data services - defined as either GPRS, MMS, CDMA2000 1x or i-mode.

Asia leads the way, according to EMC senior research analyst Kester Mann, with NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service accounting for 38.5 million subscribers.

Europe has been catching up, with the downloading of ringtones, games and MMS now common, as well as email increasing, but the messaging markets are more developed in Korea and Japan, with adult content and gambling also popular.