5G in the consumer market: the growth and monetisation story

This edition of the Industry Checkpoint series focuses on consumer digital services, highlighting how the market has changed in the last six months and its implications. The report considers three major developments: AI deployments shifting increasingly from talk to action across digital services, powered by the rise of AI agents; the intensifying efforts by digital gaming providers to improve monetisation and expand access, strengthening the rise of cloud gaming; and falling barriers to content creation in extended reality, helping accelerate content development.

B2B has emerged as a strategic growth area for operators and the wider tech/digital ecosystem. As the digital transformation of vertical sectors accelerates, gaining insights directly from enterprises is key. GSMA Intelligence surveyed more than 350 enterprises across China, from 10 vertical sectors, to gain insight into their digital transformation. The research focused on strategic objectives, investment plans, use of technology, deployment challenges, supplier decisions, tech sovereignty, and policy and regulation.

This edition of the Industry Checkpoint series focuses on consumer eSIM, highlighting momentum behind travel eSIM; new players launching eSIM-only MVNO services; operator efforts to expand eSIM use cases beyond smartphones; and operators using eSIM to target inbound travellers, including enriching connectivity with benefits that improve the wider visitor experience.