Cell Phone Subscribers Surpasses 6 Billion on Earth
Around 86 out of 100 people in the world own at least one cell phone.
There are over 7 billion people living on this planet, with an extremely substantial amount owning cell phones.
According to the International Telecommunication Union, approximately 86 out of 100 people own at least one cell phone, which equals around 6 billion subscriptions.
China by itself is responsible for 1 billion users, while India is due to achieve the same figure in the coming months. The U.N. agency also said 2.3 billion people (or around one in three globally) were active Internet users.
That said, there were inconsistencies between developing and rich countries. 70 percent of users who utilize the Internet are from wealthier and more industrialized countries. Comparatively, 24 percent of people are located within poorer and developing nations.
A growing percentage of cell phone owners are in possession of a smartphone. The iPhone has consistently sold tens of millions of units with each model, while Google has said Android is expected to reach the 1 billion activation milestone next year.

My company makes it policy for everyone to have a company issued iPhone and there are also a lot of people with company issued blackberries as well.
I am sure there are many corporate users with 2-3 cell phones.
It says in the article : "approximately 86 out of 100 people own at least one cell phone"
It seems they took account of those using multiple cellphones. I think they where not just counting the activated cellhpones.
Please re-read the article I think you may have misunderstood.
It seems they took account of those using multiple cellphones. I think they where not just counting the activated cellhpones.
..
It is poorly worded.
http://www.itu.int/en/newslog/Pages/default.aspx
The original article as linked above states subscribers not individual users.
I re-read it and I am quite sure they are talking about individuals (or subscrtibers) owning one or more cell phones.
I wouldn't be too surprised if the number of activated cell phones surpasses the number of people on earth. Because, as you say, there are a lot of people having 2 or more cell phones.
It would also interresting to know the total number of cell phones sold in history since the very first one. It must be a staggering number !
The poorest of the poor have cell phones.