Today approximately every third person on the globe has a GSM phone in their pocket - the 2 billion GSM subscriber milestone was passed in June - equating to 80 percent of all mobile users in the world.

The BBC celebrates the 15th anniversary of GSM with a NewsNight special focus on the future of mobile. At 10:30 pm on Wednesday 30th August, the BBC's flagship NewsNight programme will discuss the mobile industry and it’s future including interviews with some key industry leaders.
The programme can also be watched online - available for 24 hours after broadcast - from the Newsnight website.

Ericsson celebrated the 15 anniversary on July 1 and Jan Uddenfeldt, Senior Vice President, Technology Strategy, looks ahead :

GSM has grown constantly during its 15 years of commercial life. In the past 10 years this growth has been exponential. Looking to the future, evolved GSM technology, such as 3G, could double internet usage within a few years. In emerging markets especially, 3G technology is often the only way to reach the information available on internet - this is one way Ericsson supports its vision of being the prime driver in an all-communicating world.

BBC Tip via David Doherty (Forum Oxford)