Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure at Infonetics Research noted the importance of communication services and said even the global recession did not prevent people from using them.

The global economic crisis did not stop people from communicating but it definitely accelerated the pace of wireline-to-mobile substitution. China had half a billion mobile subscribers in 2008, and Téral said that together with India, it makes Asia Pacific the world's largest mobile subscriber region, now and into the future.

"The EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa] region is next, with strong growth driven by Africa. Mobile subscriptions will continue to grow strongly over at least the next five years, driven mainly by basic voice service needs in these regions, particularly in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China)," added Téral.