ATLANTA-There are now 1 billion GSM customers in the world and the technology is experiencing rapid growth in the Americas, according to the 3G Americas organization. Some analysts, according to 3G Americas, predict GSM will reach the 2 billion customer market by 2010.
“The Americas have seen a 110 percent annual growth rate in GSM customers from February 2003 to February 2004-making GSM the number one technology selected by new customers throughout the region today,” said Rod Nelson, chairman of 3G Americas and chief technology officer of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. “The growth of GSM in the region has been largely fueled by 60 newly licensed GSM operators in 2003 as well as the significant number of migrations by TDMA carriers for next-generation services, including EDGE.”
3G Americas also noted the launch of EDGE 3G services in the Americas as a significant achievement. “As of today, EDGE has a potential captive market of nearly one quarter of a billion customers based upon the current worldwide subscriber base of the 71 operators in 49 countries who are deploying EDGE,” said Chris Pearson, president of 3G Americas. EDGE is commercially available in Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Puerto Rico, in addition to other countries outside the Americas.
