This has been the decade of the mobile phone. Something that was a real novelty at the start of the millennium has now become a necessity all over the globe. And if you needed any proof of this, you can just take a look at the latest figures to be released from the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association).

It has been claimed in the report that there are now four billion mobile phone connections across the world, with as many as six billion expected by 2013. One of the main reasons behind the huge surge in figures comes down to the enormous rise in mobile Internet connections, but also proving significant is the new generation of smartphones with HSPA (High Speed Package Access) connections.

However, the results are a bit misleading as it is unlikely that there are four billion individual mobile phone users in the world. Rather, many people have more than one connection, especially in the western world, and this makes up for a large proportion of the overall figure. On top of that, you have the fact that in developing countries one mobile phone may be used by lots of different people, and so it is impossible to put an exact figure on the total number of mobile users.

Michael O'Hara, who is the chief marketing officer at the GSMA, said that “industry initiatives” in such areas as mobile broadband and mobile lifestyle will lead to further “innovation and growth”.

Out of the four billion connections, 100 million of these are mobile broadband connections. Also of interest was the prediction by the GSMA that because of the developments that have taken place in mobile phones in recent years, they could become the main way of connecting people to the Internet over the next few years.