Growth of mobile phone subscribers worldwide will fall to 20% in 2006 from 23% in 2005, a Reuters report, citing a study released by Strategy Analytics, said.
The Reuters report said quoted the study as saying that much of the growth will come from areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as more established wireless markets have fewer people left who have yet to buy their first mobile phone.
By the end of 2006 there will be 2.5 billion mobile subscribers, up from 2.1 billion at the end of 2005, the report said.
This includes about 400 million people with two phones or a separate subscription for laptop data services, the Reuters report said.
Global wireless service revenue is expected to rise 11% to $623.9 billion, according to the report.
While countries such as Russia, India and Indonesia were among the fastest growing in 2005 at 40% to 50%, African countries such as Nigeria and Algeria could lead the growth in 2006, the report said.
The report said the global wireless service industry is expected to generate $800 billion in revenue in 2010, with emerging markets accounting for about 42% of the total.
The Reuters repot also said the research firm is predicting that subscribers to services on high-speed networks could double this year.