The Top Worldwide Mobile Providers

There are all sorts of different mobile phone carriers throughout the world. In fact, competition in all markets can be especially competitive. There are all sorts of notable providers around the world. Here's a look at some of the top worldwide mobile providers around the world.

The largest groups in terms of mobile phone carriers are located in China. That's because the groups that work to offer mobile phone service to the public are owned by the state. China Mobile and China Unicom are the two main providers in the country. China Mobile has about 370 million subscribers, and China Unicom has about 160 million users.

In the United States there is a great level of competition among mobile phone carriers. AT&T is the leader with about seventy million subscribers in the country. Other notable groups in the country include Verizon, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Alltel and TracFone.

Competition in Canada is also tight. While Rogers Wireless has about seven and a half million subscribers in Canada Bell Mobility is close with about six million users. Telus, MTS and SaskTel are also popular.

The United Kingdom is especially popular with cell phones. Of the nearly eighty million cell phone users in the area there are four major providers that have a majority of the share in the United Kingdom. Those groups are O2, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange.

Japan also has a major state owned cell phone provider in NTT DoCoMo. However, although this group gets about fifty million subscribers that is only half of the share of cell phone users in Japan. In fact, the other groups are not controlled by the state in Japan.

In India there are six different mobile phone carriers that have more than twenty million users. Airtel has about 57 million users, while Reliance and Vodafone have more than forty million users each. BSNL, Tata Indicom and Idea Cellular are also popular.

Some companies will work in all sorts of countries. For instance, while Vodafone has a great share in the United Kingdom it also offers services in Australia, New Zealand and India. About 250 million people subscribe to Vodafone's services, making it second to China Mobile in size.

In Central America and most of South America Telefonica and America Movil are especially popular. In Africa the MTN Group operates through much of the continent. The group's recent acquisition of Investcom has helped to get the group to expand into the Middle East.

Those are some of the world's top worldwide mobile providers. These groups work to provide cell phone coverage to millions of people around the world. In fact, in some places in the world the level of competition among mobile phone carriers is especially great.