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A survey into the mobile phone connections worldwide has revealed that there are now over 5 billion, with the Asia-Pacific region including India and China being the main users. Ben Wood, mobile phone analyst at CCS Insight said the mobile phone may be "the most prolific consumer device on the planet". "If you just take the UK in 1987, when the first mobile companies launched, an industry insider predicted a maximum of 10,000 phones," the BBC quoted him as saying. "Now almost every adult, child and domestic pet seems to have one, given that 30 million phones are sold every year in the UK," he said. The firm said that the Asia-Pacific region including India and China accounted for 47 percent of global mobile connections at the end of June 2010. According to Wireless Intelligence, the latest figures show mobile phone penetration has reached 130 percent in western Europe, in Africa 52 percent, and in eastern Europe 123 percent. The four billion connections mark was surpassed at the end of 2008, and analysts at Wireless Intelligence predict six billion connections worldwide by the middle of 2012.

India, China account for 47pc of 5 bn global mobile connections