Globally top 20 mobile operators notch up 58 % of the total mobile connections across the globe in Q109, reveals a new research by Wireless Intelligence.

Leading the race with highest number of mobile subscribers is the Chinese major, China Mobile accounting for 11.5 % of the global connections with a 479 million subscriber base. Following it is European major, Vodafone with subscriber base of 247 million.

The race for the third spot is heating up with close finish between Spain's Telefónica and Mexico's América Móvil. India’s Bharti Airtel finds itself ranked at number 8 while Reliance Communications is ranked at number 19.

Next-generation connections however comprise only 20 % of the total connections across the globe, says the study due to the fact that deployments in some key markets are at an early stage and also highlighting the expansion of the predominately European-based groups into the emerging markets.

"High penetration in mature markets is slowing the opportunity for organic growth as operators push for multiple connections per customer and secondary data connections," commented Will Croft, an analyst at Wireless Intelligence. "At the other end of the spectrum, the emerging markets still produce lucrative profit-making ventures and phenomenal growth. We are seeing more consolidation than ever before as mergers and acquisitions drive non-organic growth in the mature markets, while expansion into the emerging markets remains a key priority for the larger operator groups."

The research was conducted spanning 2.4 billion connections in 118 out of the total 223 global markets.