2.6 bln cellular subscribers by 2009

After several tough years, the market for macro cellular base stations will increase sharply from 1.8 mln in 2004 to 3.5 mln in 2009, reports In-Stat. In some cases, in the last five years, base station prices have dropped by a factor of 10. The number of worldwide cellular subscribers will hit 2.6 bln in 2009, up from 1.6 bln in 2004. Carriers around the world are eagerly upgrading their equipment to support new high-speed data technologies (GPRS, EDGE, CDMA2000 EV-DO).