According to Informa Telecoms & Media, the number of mobile subscriptions worldwide will reach 2.14 billion by the end of 2005, having already surpassed the 1.8 billion mark. Building on record growth of 354 million in 2004, net additions are again expected to exceed 350 million in 2005. Rapid growth in key developing markets will not be offset by a decline in mature markets to the extent previously expected. Reductions in access fees in expanding markets such as Nigeria and Mexico have had an impact on short-term growth. The Russian mobile market grew by 89 percent in 2004 on the back of four previous years of annual growth in excess of 100 percent, and Russia alone is forecast to account for 43 percent of net additions in Central and Eastern Europe in 2005-2010. The Chinese mobile market, which exceeded the 400-million-subscription mark in March 2005, is forecast to grow by 65 percent by the end of 2010. Indonesia is forecast to exceed 50 million subscriptions in 2007. According to Informa the global penetration rate is just 28 percent, meaning that there are still more than four billion potential new mobile users worldwide.
What was once a simple, unidirectional flow of electricity from centralized power plants to passive consumers is evolving into a complex, intelligent network where millions of distributed resources actively participate in grid operations. This transformation, powered by smart grid technologies, represents one of the most significant infrastructure shifts of our time. It promises to reshape how we generate, distribute, and consume energy. At its core, the smart grid represents far more than mere digitization of existing infrastructure. This bi-directional capability is fundamental to understanding why smart grids are becoming the backbone of modern energy systems, facilitating everything from real-time demand response to the integration of renewable energy sources. Smart Grid Market Development By 2030, smart grid technologies are projected to cover nearly half of the global electrical grid, up dramatically from just 24 percent in 2025. This expansion is underpinned by explosive gr...