The number of people who use mobile phones in the world's No. 2 telecommunications market climbed 19.2 percent from a year earlier to total 60.23 million at the end of July, the Telecommunications Carriers Association said. The explosive growth of Internet-enabled mobile phones coupled with the high cost of obtaining a conventional phone line has made the wireless industry one of the most vibrant sectors of the recession-weary economy. The data showed nearly half of Japan's population of 126.7 million had access to mobile telephones, represented by a penetration rate of 47.5 percent. That's well above the penetration rate of about 32 percent in the United States, the world's largest telecomunications market. The number of cellular phone users was 54.38 million, while people who use PHS, a more limited, urban version of conventional cell phones, numbered 5.86 million.

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