Mobile phone subscribers in Japan are likely to outnumber fixed-line subscribers this month, ending the dominant role of conventional phones in telecommunications, the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said Wednesday.
Mobile phone subscribers -- including cellular phones, car telephones and personal handy-phones -- totaled 55.53 million at the end of February.
At the end of March, 55.66 million fixed-line subscribers are expected, industry officials said.
Cellular phone subscriptions alone totaled 49.86 million at the end of February and are expected to exceed 50 million in March.
Industry officials said mobile phone subscriptions will probably outpace that of fixed-line phones by the end of March as new school graduates usually raise cellular phone subscriptions.
Mobile phone subscriptions have grown at an annual rate of 10 million units for the past several years due to strong demand and reduced costs.
The ability of mobile phones to send e-mail and access the Internet has also contributed to their increased popularity among a wide range of users.
"I expect demand to total 80 million units for cellular phones in Japan in the future," one industry official said.