Telecommunications have become a very important part of our lives. In fact, studies show that the average smartphone user interacts with their phone for more than 145 minutes a day, according to researcher Dscout. Our phones, tablets, TVs, and computers rely on telecommunications to provide us with content that we use for work, education, and entertainment. Here is a video on the most valuable global telecom companies currently.

You might be surprised to find out that currently, the most valuable telecommunication company in the world is in a developing country. Telecommunications is becoming an attractive place to invest, as middle-class consumers in emerging economies enhance their spending on technology. Here are the world’s 10 most valuable telecommunications companies, and a brief description of their business.

• 10th - América Móvil. Mexico’s largest telecommunications company Serves 280.6 million mobile subscribers worldwide. The company has a market value of $49.385 billion.

• 9th - Telefonica SA. A Spanish company headquartered in Madrid Spain, with most of its base concentrated in Latin America, serving 21 different countries. The company has a market value of $52.84 billion and revenues are driven by three primary brands which are Movistar, O2, and Vivo.

• 8th - Vodafone Group plc. The company is headquartered in London, has operations in 26 countries, and serves approximately 444 million customers. The company has a market value of $68.41 billion dollars and provides products such as fixed lines, mobile, internet, and digital television.

• 7th -  Deutsche Telekom AG. Their market value is $76.11 billion, and this German telecom giant has more than 100 million mobile customers in more than 50 countries globally.

• 6th - Softbank Group Corp. The Japanese company is headquartered in Tokyo Japan, and also owns 80% of Sprint, which is a U.S. telecom corporation. The company has a market value of $82.26 billion and in addition to offer mobile and fixed line communications it also offers, e-commerce, Internet, technology services, finance, media, and marketing.

• 5th - Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.They boast a market value of $86.13 billion. The company’s revenues are mainly driven by fiber optic connections and cloud computing services rather than bundle packages.

• 4th  - Verizon Communications Inc. This global telecommunications company, with a market value of $191.72 billion, operates in 150 countries worldwide, is headquartered in Basking Ridge New Jersey, and is a result of a merger between Bell Atlantic Corp and GTE Corp.

• 3rd- China Mobile Ltd. The mobile giant has a market valuation of $215.3 billion. This company is considered China’s leading provider of telecommunications services with approximately 849 million subscribers.

• 2nd - AT&T Inc. The U.S. company provides services to more than 355 million customers and is currently worth $245.58 billion. AT&T is focusing on expanding its ultra-fast internet setup, named GigPower, in 56 U.S. metropolitan cities with plans for further expansion.

• 1st - China Telecom. The company has a market value of $309.16 billion and provides fixed-line services to 194 million customers, mobile services to 62.36 million customers, and broadband services to 113 million customers.

As demand for advanced connections technologies continues to rise across the globe, the telecommunications industry is set to enjoy continued expansion, especially in the developing world which makes América Móvil, Telefonica SA, and China Mobile robust candidates for continued long-term growth.