The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2024 (GSMA)

Summary

• By the end of 2023, 1.8 billion people in Asia Pacific (63% of the population) subscribed to a mobile service.p.4
• At the end of 2023, 51% of the region's population used mobile internet, equating to just over 1.4 billion users.p.4
• In 2023, mobile technologies and services generated 5.3% of Asia Pacific's GDP.p.4
• This contribution amounted to $880 billion of economic value added.p.4
• The mobile industry supported around 13 million jobs across the region.p.4
• By April 2024, 49 operator groups had signed up to the GSMA Open Gateway, representing 240 mobile networks and 65% of mobile connections globally.p.5

Key insights

1. Mobile internet users number just over 1.4 billion, almost triple the figure a decade earlier.p.4
2. Large swathes of the population remain unconnected, most of them within the usage gap.p.4
3. Commercial 5G standalone networks are present in seven countries in Asia Pacific.p.5
4. Operators are looking to 5G-Advanced and 5G RedCap to deliver enterprise solutions and kick-start a new round of 5G investment.p.5
5. Operators have struggled to adopt a standardised approach to network APIs at scale, prompting the Open Gateway initiative.p.5
6. Operators are investing in AI startups and developing their own large language models to seek new revenue streams from genAI.p.6