680 Million Mobile Internet Subs in Brazil, Russia, India, China by 2012

Brazil, Russia, India and China—collectively known as BRIC—represent 43 percent of the world's population and will account for nearly 1.2 billion mobile phone subscribers this year, according to eMarketer.

"Mobile is not simply viewed as an extension of the Web in BRIC, as it is in the United States, Western Europe and parts of Asia-Pacific," says John du Pre Gauntt, eMarketer senior analyst.

"Mobile is the Internet," he says.

eMarketer projects that the BRIC countries will account for over 1.7 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2012. Of that amount, over 680 million subscribers will access the mobile Internet.