Emerging markets are mainly distributed in developing countries with rich natural and human resources, including the "BRICs" (Brazil, Russia, India, China), and number of countries in Africa and Latin America. Economic globalization is stimulating rapid economic growth in these countries, and meanwhile the telecom industry, as an integral facet of a nation's infrastructure, is faced with great opportunities and potential for development.

African, for instance, mobile phone subscribers accounted for 15.3% of the continent's population by the end of 2005, and it is expected to merely double by the end of 2011. Latin America saw an overall mobile phone penetration rate of 43% by the end of 2006, but the variation between countries was huge. Haiti and Cuba, for example, managed only 5% and 1% respectively. Given these figures, emerging markets offer enormous potential for future development and are as such becoming hotly contested battlefields among the world's telecom players.

Voice from Operators--Comium tapping into the African market

"that the global number of mobile subscribers will exceed 3.7 billion by 2010, and that emerging markets will account for 85% of the new subscribers." - EMC Consulting Services

BRIC countries now represent over 1.1 billion GSM subscriptions. India posted a record 8 million GSM subscriptions gain in October 2008, and is on course to cross the historic 250 million GSM subs total by December 2008. –GSA Market Update (Nov,2 008)