According to the International Telecommunication Union, there are currently 4.6 billion mobile phone subscriptions in the world. Even despite the fact that this doesn’t mean almost 80% of the world’s population has a phone, as presumably millions of people have two or more phone contracts, the world’s appetite for mobile phones is growing at an unprecedented level.

Mobile phones are not just for calling or even texting anymore. In the UK, one in five mobile phones has email and web access and smart phones now account for 15% of the global mobile phone sales market. If forecasts are to believed this figure will rise to 45% by 2013.

This growth has largely been fuelled by the iPhone and its associated apps. More forecasts predict that sales of apps will grow from the current level of £2.7 billion to a massive £20 billion by 2013, in spite of the recession.

The iPhone is now not in a monogamous relationship with O2. Other mobile phone networks such as Vodafone have obtained the rights to sell the iPhone. Vodafone are in fact selling the latest iPhone offering, the iPhone 3GS. This is the spruced up version of the 3G version with a better camera, faster connectivity and longer battery life among other things.

The popularity of the iPhone in the smart phone market is to do with the apps, but also the ease with which it can be used over some other smart phones on the market, but by far the biggest appeal is it is a fashion accessory. It has become the iconic gadget of choice; every kid wants one, every male in the office has one and every uni student wants one for Christmas.

However, one problem that remains in the mobile phone world is international call charges. Calling within the UK is now remarkably cheap. In fact, you get 1000 of minutes included in your contracts each month and then additional calls are a nominal cost. But why, despite network providers operating all across Europe, do we have to spend a fortune calling our European neighbours? Well, thankfully this is not a problem any longer.

You can now make international calls from your mobile, whether you are a UK resident or not and save a fortune on BT rates. Whether you need an access code or a special sim card, finally the mobile phone world is getting itself better connected.