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Hooked on Cell Phones For millions of people around the world, a wireless phone has become a necessity, whether for business deals, shopping or personal contacts. As of last June, 38 million Americans subscribed to a cellular service, more than in any other country, and the numbers are rising steadily. But on a per-person basis, Finland leads with 24.7 percent of all Finns being cell phone users.

Mobile Phone Subscribers:
Countries with More Than One Million Subscribers, Ranked by Number of Subscribers as of June

Country 		Cellular
 Subscribers,
  in Millions

  Penetration
 Rate
U.S
 38.2
 14.4%
Japan
 12.6
 10.0
Britain
 6.0
 10.2
Italy
 4.8
 8.2
Germany
 4.6
 5.7
Australia
 3.8
 21.1
Canada
 3.1
 10.4
South Korea
 2.4
 5.5
Sweden
 2.2
 24.4
Brazil
 2.0
 1.2
France
 1.7
 2.9
Spain
 1.7
 4.4
Malaysia
 1.5
 7.7
Thailand
 1.5
 2.4
Finland
 1.3
 24.7
Denmark
 1.1
 21.9
Norway
 1.1
 24.6
Reporters holding cell phones.


CHART: Top 10 World Mobile Telecom Operators
 SOURCE: IDATE World Atlas of Mobiles


CREDITS: Photo by Frank Johnston, Graphic by Tobey--The Washngton Post

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