Global mobile penetration reached 100 percent in 2015 expanding from 33 percent in 2005, said Ovum.

Africa has a mobile penetration of 82 percent. Mobile penetration is developing Asia is 79 percent. Ovum says both Africa and Asian telecom markets are 10 years behind Europe and North America. Issues of availability and affordability are impacting mobile growth in Africa and Asia.

The Ovum report on global telecom industry says Eastern Europe has a mobile penetration of above 140 percent, Latin America and the Caribbean just below 120 percent, Middle East 120 percent, North America 120 percent, Oceania and South East Asia above 100 percent and Western Europe nearly 130 percent.

Africa and developing Asian markets will approach the 100 percent penetration mark at the end of the decade.

In some countries of the developed world one in 10 SIM cards are used to connect machines such as cars, electricity meters, and other objects. On average 4 percent of the world’s SIM cards are used to connect machines, a ratio that Ovum expects to double to almost 8 percent in 2020.

Dario Talmesio, European Practice Leader at Ovum, said that there are big regional differences, and rural penetration in developing markets continues to lag far behind that in urban areas.