Two billionth mobile subscription this weekend

The two billionth mobile connection is set to be made this weekend.

According to Wireless Intelligence, a joint venture between analyst house Ovum and the GSM Association, the connection is expected to be made on 18 September.

The figure marks a rise of nearly half a billion on last September, when 1.6 billion connections were made. Most of the new additions will come from developing markets such as China, India and Latin America.

However, the two billionth connection doesn't necessarily mean two billion users, Wireless Intelligence has found. Now that mobile markets such as Sweden and the UK are reaching saturation point, it's common for many mobile users to have more than one phone subscription. The two billion figure also counts inactive pre-pay connections.

There are thought to be around 1.5 billion mobile phone users on both GSM and 3G in the world at the moment, according to research firm Gartner, and the mobile industry at large is predicting that the two billion user barrier will be broken by the end of this year.

The GSM Association itself announced one billion GSM connections had been made in January of last year.

Ovum is predicting that the three billion user mark for both GSM and 3G will be broken inside a decade.