In June 2017, the number of active phone connections (7.7 billion) exceeded the world’s population for the first time ever.
The judging panel thought this statistic was worthy of ‘Highly Commended’ status as this landmark was finally reached in 2017 after several years of dramatic increases in phone connections around the world.
It now seems astounding that, in 2001, more than half of the world’s population had yet to make their first phone call.
Sources: Statistics of the year 2017, GSMA Intelligence
