While mobile operators around the world are making significant investments in next-generation mobile networks to meet capacity demands and expand coverage reach, a major new GSMA report at the ongoing Mobile World Congress holding in Barcelona, Spain has revealed that an additional one billion people will become mobile subscribers over the next five years.
Meanwhile, in 2014, according to GSMA, mobile operators invested around US$216 billion in capital expenditure (Capex), a nine per cent year-on-year increase.
Investment levels are forecast to reach a cumulative US$1.4 trillion in the six years from 2015 through to 2020.
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.
This is even as 2015 Mobile Economy Report see rapid global migration to Mobile Broadband networks which is expected to enable mobile industry to make rising contribution to global Gross Domestic Product, GDP, public funding and Jobs.
The new report, ‘The Mobile Economy: 2015′, forecasts that the number of unique mobile subscribers1 will increase from 3.6 billion at the end of 2014 to 4.6 billion by 2020, increasing by four per cent per year (CAGR) over this period.
By 2020, according to the GSMA report, almost 60 per cent of the global population will subscribe to mobile services, up from half of the population at the end of 2014.
Accordingly, the study further highlighted a rapid migration to 3G/4G mobile broadband networks and rising smartphone adoption, which is fuelling growth in new mobile data services and applications.
As the mobile ecosystem continues to expand in reach and size, the mobile industry, the report added is forecast to make an increasing contribution to global GDP, public funding and employment, as well as improving the lives of billions of citizens around the world.
“A decade ago, just one in five of the global population was a mobile subscriber – we have now surpassed the 50 per cent milestone and can look forward to connecting a billion new subscribers over the next five years,” Anne Bouverot, Director General of the GSMA, said, adding that, “Mobile sits at the heart of a new ecosystem that is uniting the digital and physical worlds, and powering economic growth.
At the same time, mobile operators continue to deploy networks to all corners of the globe, connecting unconnected citizens and addressing socio-economic challenges in areas such as digital and financial inclusion, healthcare and education.
“Operators require a supportive regulatory framework in order to deliver this new digital ecosystem being built on mobile broadband networks, smartphones and other connected devices.
“Our new report published today includes a number of steps that policymakers can take to stimulate investment, competition and innovation in the mobile-powered digital economy, including reducing constraints on market-driven restructuring; ensuring operators have access to sufficient spectrum; and supporting operator efforts to expand mobile network coverage into rural areas in a sustainable way.”
Although mobile penetration varies widely by global region, In Europe, according to the report, nearly 80 per cent of the population were mobile subscribers at the end of 2014, while in Sub-Saharan Africa the figure is only 39 per cent.
Global subscriber growth over the next five years, the report revealed would therefore be concentrated in the developing world, driven by the increasing affordability of mobile devices and services and rapidly expanding mobile coverage that serves to connect currently unconnected populations, especially those in rural areas.
The number of global SIM connections2 (excluding M2M connections) is forecast to grow from 7.1 billion in 2014 to 9 billion by 2020.
