Reportlinker.com has announced that a new market research report related to the worldwide mobile communications market is available in its catalog:
2007 Global Mobile Communications - Statistics, Trends & Forecasts.

This annual report offers a wealth of information on the worldwide mobile communications industry and includes statistics, analysis, trends and forecasts. It also provides an overview of regional mobile markets.

Competition will continue to increase in the telecommunications sector because users of all forms of technologies continue to grow, especially in personal communications. This applies to the mobile industry, where mobile subscribers have more than doubled in the last five years or so. As more participants enter the mobile market, and the convergence of fixed and mobile continues, this competitive pressure will escalate.

Already, call charges on average are dropping by around 15% to 20% per annum around the world. As would be expected, it is the markets with strong competition that have seen the most considerable drops in mobile call charges.

For the time being, the mobile industry will continue to revolve around voice services. The industry can still capture more of the voice market from the fixed networks, as the mobile phone is by far the preferred telephone choice for most consumers, and many countries now have more mobile than fixed telephone subscribers.

The emerging markets are also beginning to make their mark on the mobile sector, with many of the less mature regions around the world showing significant growth. This has slightly lifted the worldwide overall growth rate for the industry, and many markets, such as Asia Pacific, still have room for more growth ahead.

However, despite signs of growth, most of the worldwide market has experienced a decline in voice ARPU – with an overall drop of more than 10% in the past 12 months.

So, while the role of 3G was initially seen as more about cannibalizing traditional 2G services, the continuing rollout of these services means it is time for mobile operators to start tapping into the new revenue streams that 3G offers – especially as there are not many other growth markets open to them at this time.

All roads for the future, however, point to 4G as the end result. It will be a slow transition as there is a lack of real competition in the mobile industry; from contenders such as WiMAX.

3G will be with us longer than first predicted, but we should see 4G coming on the scene some time after 2010. A sign that 4G is the future was reinforced when five of the world’s largest cellular network operators formed an organization to prepare for fourth-generation wireless networks.

This report provides analysis, statistics, forecasts and trends on the mobile industry, including a brief overview of regional developments. It includes statistics on overall mobile subscribers, 3G, prepaid mobile, ARPU and mobile charges. Other topics covered include 4G, Bluetooth, spectrum trading, mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), roaming, termination rates, mobile number portability (MNP) and mobile satellite services (MSS).