Mobile subscribers in Europe totalled 703 million in 2005. Nearly 60 percent was from Western Europe, and the rest from Eastern Europe, according to the European Information Technology Observatory, SFN's World Digital Media Trends 2008 reported.

This figure is expected to grow to 923 million in 2010, with an annual growth rate of 5.6 percent. The CAGR in Eastern Europe is more than three times that in Western Europe, with 9.4 percent versus 3 percent, respectively.

Among all the Western European countries, Germany leads in the number of subscribers, which are expected to grow from 79 million in 2005 to 94.7 million in 2010, according to the European Information Technology Observatory.

Italy and the United Kingdom follow, with anticipated growth of 69 million to 78.5 million and 65.8 million to 72.6 million, respectively. France and Spain are ranked in the fourth and the fifth places, according to the report, World Digital Media Trends 2008, released by SFN and the World Association of Newspapers.