The number of mobile subscribers in the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan reached 527.3 million last year, and is expected to grow by 71 percent to 901 million in 2009, a research firm said on June 6. Total mobile subscribers in the region grew 25.6 percent in 2004 over the previous year, surpassing growth in North America and Western Europe, International Data Corp (IDC) said in a report.
India, where subscribers more than doubled to 48 million in 2004, was the fastest-growing market in the region.
IDC sees the number reaching 149 million in 2009, compared with 535 million in China.
The total number of mobile subscribers in the region is expected to grow by an average of 11 percent per year.