What accounts for this disparity(差距,不同)? The answer involves two factors. The first reason is technology gap. Developed countries generally enjoy advanced technology, which enables them to popularize mobile phone ahead of developing countries. Another contributing factor is the difference in population size. As we know, developed countries usually have a small population but most developing countries a large. As the price of the mobile phone slides(下滑), more and more people in developing countries avail themselves of(利用)this service, which explains the substantial increase(大幅增長)in mobile-phone subscription in these countries since 2003.
From the case of mobile-phone subscription, we see that developing countries are quickly catching up(趕追)in science and technology, which is believed to be conducive to closing the gap between developing and developed countries.