Mobile operators recorded 105 million net additions in Q2 and reached a total of 6.5 billion mobile subscriptions, according to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report. The mobile net additions estimate is based on historic information from external sources and regulatory and operator reports combined with Ericsson analysis.
China added the highest number of customers, namely 30 million. Indonesia (9 million), India (8 million), Bangladesh (5 million), and Nigeria (4 million) follow in terms of net additions. Among regions, the data shows that 30 million new customers appeared in Asia Pacific (APAC) excluding China, 20 million in Africa, 6 million in Central and Easter Europe, 4 million in Latin America, and 1 million in Western Europe.
Mobile subscriptions have grown around 7 percent year-on-year and 2 percent quarter-on-quarter. Mobile broadband subscriptions grew by approximately 150 million to 1.8 billion subscriptions, representing a 45 percent year-on-year growth rate.
There is continued strong momentum for smartphone uptake in all regions. Around 55 percent of all mobile phones sold in Q2 were smartphones, compared to around 40 percent for the full year 2012 and around 50 percent in Q1 2013. Of all mobile phone subscriptions, around 25 percent are associated with smartphones, leaving considerable room for further uptake.
WCDMA & HSPA subscriptions grew by around 75 million and LTE subscriptions increased by around 25 million to 125 million. The total number of subscriptions capable of using GSM grew by 100 million, while GSM-only subscriptions declined by around 10 million.
Data traffic almost doubled between Q2 2012 and Q2 2013. Data traffic growth between Q1 2013 and Q2 2013 was 14 percent and voice traffic growth between Q2 2012 and Q2 2013 was 2 percent. There are large differences in traffic levels between markets, regions and operators.
These measurements have been performed by Ericsson over several years using a large base of commercial networks that together cover all regions of the world. They form a representative base for calculating world total traffic in mobile networks.
