A record 196 million new mobile users were added in the last quarter of 2010, according to data published this week by TeleGeography.
More customers signed on than in any quarter since Q4 2007, indicating that constraints on growth resulting from the global recession were finally beginning to lift.
TeleGeography analyst Mark Gibson said the results were encouraging for the industry.
“While the overall growth rate is declining as more wireless markets edge closer to maturity, the increase of almost 200 million subscribers in one quarter suggests that plenty of exciting business development opportunities remain,” he said.
Customer growth is still being driven by Asia and other developing economies, according to the researchers.
Growth was particularly strong in India during the quarter, where the nation's operators added 63 million customers – more than the total customer base of France, Spain or South Korea.
India is also closing the gap rapidly on the world's largest mobile market, China. There are now just 90 million more subscribers in the latter market, and India's annual growth rate surpassed China's by nearly 30 percentage points.
Overall, mobile customers grew by nearly 690 million in 2010 to over 5.3 billion, TeleGeography said.
The research firm predicts that the number of global wireless subscribers will pass seven billion at the end of 2014.
TeleGeography's figures are in line with ITU estimates – in October last year, the body estimated that subscribers would reach 5.3 billion by the end of 2010. iSuppli had estimated 5.1 billion by the end of the year, while ABI Research estimates there were “more than 5 billion” subscribers at year-end.