Italy Has the Highest Number of Mobile Users in Europe

October 16, 2005

Italy is now the European country with the highest mobile phone penetration rate, with a level of 109.42 phones per 100 inhabitants, according to the latest figures from the ITU in Geneva. The organization points out that only Hong Kong with a penetration rate of 114.5% is higher than Italy. In absolute terms the ITU says Italy has as many as 62.7 million mobile users.

The Italians, with over four million UMTS users, are also leading the way in 3G take up. This figure, says the ITU, means Italy is the most prominent user of 3G services in Europe, but is only twelfth in the world in terms of 3G penetration, out of 70 countries that have introduced it.

The data is from a report prepared by the ITU for official presentation next month. However, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera appears to have got its hands on it first. The paper quotes Cristina Bueti, of the ITU, as clarifying the data somewhat. She points out that the figures refer to the number of activated SIM cards in use, rather than the actual number of phones. She added that several countries, including Luxembourg, have challenged Italy's supremacy, claiming that the data is inflated because many Italians use more than one SIM on the same mobile phone.