10% of the Planets Population Now Uses GSM

The total number of people using GSM phones globally probably broke through the 600 million mark of Friday, according to figures released by the GSM Association. The Association now expects the total number of GSM users to exceed 630 million worldwide by end 2001. Currently GSM is the system of choice in more than 171 countries of the world.

Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association welcomed the development, stating: "Today we are pushing forward our vision of the GSM family platform into the future, including GPRS, EDGE and 3GSM. The challenges ahead are no less dramatic than those of the past, and we can only meet them through co-operation and collaboration," he added. "The GSM approach has proven that this way works, which is why more than 80% of the world's digital wireless carriers - who have made 3G technology choices - have declared that their future will be in 3GSM deployments."

"We are now predicting that by the end of this year, more than 630 million wireless consumers will have chosen today's GSM technology. This is a number that can only increase with the proliferation of commercial GPRS, EDGE and 3GSM services. As our heritage suggests, we will be working with operators, manufacturers and standards bodies to drive this growth by focusing on the issues that matter to wireless operators and their customers alike."

Posted to the site on 22nd October 2001