According to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), the number of GSM subscribers rose by 234.7 million in the first eight months of this year to take the number of GSM subscribers worldwide to over 1.5 billion. There were 32.22 million WCDMA subscribers globally as of end-August. The GSA also identified 48 mobile operators who are deploying combined EDGE-WCDMA networks. There are 153 network operators in 85 countries committed to the EDGE upgrade, as against 106 networks in 64 countries a year ago, with 96 networks having launched commercial EDGE services in 60 countries.
