India will be a significant engine of the global wireless subscriber growth as over 2.5 billion people world over would use mobile phones by 2009, according to a report released by market research firm In-Stat/MDR.
China is the fastest growing mobile phone market at present, but as growth in China begins to slow, India can be expected to pick up the slack and will be a significant engine of global subscriber growth, said the report titled 'Growth Returns - Worldwide Mobile Subscriber Forecasts 2004 2009'.
The report said mobile phone networks worldwide were likely to have 1.6 billion subscribers by the end of this year.
The growth rate, which had slowed over the last several years, is expected to quicken as carriers build networks capable of providing low-speed broadband service to subscribers for voice and data services, it said.
European subscriber growth will continue to slow, and stall in Scandinavia -- the world's first fully mature wireless market -- and Western Europe.
During the next five years, subscribers would also move from low-speed networks to high-speed technologies, the report said.
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