Europe - Mobile telephony

Nearly one mobile phone subscription per inhabitant in the EU27 in 2005

The number of mobile telephone subscriptions has increased almost fourteen times between 1996 and 2005 in the EU27, from 7 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in 1996 to 96 in 2005. In 2005, thirteen Member States had more than 100 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Luxembourg (158), Lithuania (127), Italy (122), the Czech Republic (115) and Portugal (111) registered the highest ratios and Romania (62), Poland (76), France (77) and Bulgaria (80) the lowest.

In contrast, the number of fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants in the EU27 has only increased slightly in this period, from 43 lines per 100 inhabitants in 1996 to 48 in 2005. The pattern in the Member States varies: the number of fixed telephone lines has fallen in twelve Member States, while it increased in fourteen and remained stable in one. The Member States with the highest number of fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants in 2005 were Germany (67), Denmark (61), France and Sweden (both 58), and the lowest were Romania (20), Slovakia (22), Lithuania (23), the Czech Republic and Poland (both 31)