UN report: Growth in mobile contracts slowing

(AP) -- The U.N. telecommunications agency says the number of new mobile phone contracts is slowing as cell phone usage reaches saturation point.

The International Telecommunication Union says developed countries already have 116 contracts for every 100 inhabitants.

ITU predicts there will be some 5.3 billion mobile subscriptions by the end of the year including 940 million for high-speed connections.

The Geneva-based agency says over 90 percent of the world's 6.7 billion people now live in areas with access to mobile phone networks and 143 countries offer high-speed mobile services that can be used for mobile broadband.

The figures released by ITU Tuesday also forecast that 2 billion people worldwide will have access to the Internet by the end of the year.

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