Fixed and mobile subscribers' market highlights from this Infonetics Research's report indicate the apparent decline of the access line market. The figures show that there were about four times more mobile subscribers than access line subscribers worldwide in 2008 (3.9 billion versus one billion).

The number of mobile subscribers grew 17.4 per cent in 2008 over 2007. Access line subscribers declined 5.5 per cent in contrast. Access lines are no longer popular in North America and China. According to Infonetics Research, their disappearance is due to many reasons including the move to fixed-to-mobile substitutions and the switch from copper to fibre lines. The global recession also caused the change as many users keep only their mobile or smart phone to cut costs.