All research

Many European markets are lagging behind in terms of network quality and the deployment of advanced mobile networks. To quantify the investment required for Europe to meet its 5G goals and regain its global leadership in mobile connectivity, GSMA Intelligence conducted a detailed economic modelling exercise.

Latin America’s mobile markets are transitioning deeper into the data era, where rising data demand, high investment requirements and declining mobile prices have made operator scale increasingly important. This report examines how market structure, consolidation and entry have affected investment, network quality and consumer outcomes across Latin America since 2010.

Although significant progress has been made extending network coverage, rural populations remain 28% less likely to use mobile internet than their urban counterparts, and 30% less likely to regularly engage in online services such as messaging, banking and education. This latest research examines how the digital divide affects people living in rural areas, and how governments and regulators can address this challenge.

At around 16%, Bangladesh’s spectrum-cost-to-revenue ratio exceeds the Asia Pacific median (10.4%) and is twice as high as the global median (7.7%). High spectrum cost has been shown to negatively impact consumer outcomes, such as network coverage and speeds. Reducing prices by 50% would align spectrum costs closer to the Asia Pacific median at about 12% by 2035, boosting 4G speeds by 17% and enabling 99% 5G coverage, yielding a cumulative $34 billion GDP boost. Aligning costs to the global median of 8% of operators’ revenue would increase 4G speeds by 22% and accelerate 5G rollout further, generating a $45 billion GDP boost.

As demand for mobile data accelerates, spectrum policy will play a decisive role in determining whether Türkiye can keep pace with international connectivity standards or fall behind.

Government decisions on spectrum pricing continue to impact mobile coverage and speeds. This latest report on spectrum pricing finds spectrum costs have risen sharply as a percentage of revenues, increasing the cost burden on operators and constraining critical network investments.

By 2030, a significant investment gap will remain in the Pacific Islands unless reform is implemented to unlock investment, improve returns and affordability, and remove the barriers hindering adoption and digital inclusion.

The recent announcement that the government in Malaysia has granted a second nationwide 5G licence removes what was in effect an infrastructure monopoly and paves the way for a dual-network model. This report highlights how the move to a 5G dual-network model is the right one for customer choice, long-term financial sustainability and Malaysia's competitiveness as a tech and services economy.

Industries worldwide are undergoing significant digital transformation, fundamentally reshaping how businesses operate and interact. At the core of this shift, connectivity is a crucial enabler. While the economic benefits of mobile connectivity are well documented, the broader impact of digital transformation across industries remains less understood. This study offers empirical evidence on how the latest wave of digital technologies is fuelling economic growth.

Mobile connectivity across Asia Pacific has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past 10 years, with significant improvements in download/upload speeds and latency. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, this study explores how quality-of-service (QoS) regulations are evolving in the region.

We examine the economic case for a potential market-based solution where LTGs face a price signal for the usage of the public network. By focusing on a general principle rather than a specific scheme design, we review the potential of payments as an instrument to improve economic efficiency, which could translate into improved consumer and societal outcomes, such as greater network quality, increased innovation and a general improvement in the pace of digitalisation and the benefits this brings to society. We conclude that under the current regulatory framework, the outcome can be sub-optimal due to insufficient incentives for LTGs to use networks efficiently.

For 5G monetisation, the primary challenge is to drive a higher price premium for tariffs linked to content or speed, with consumers being willing to pay and sustain this level of payment over time. This comes down to people feeling 5G delivers something new or better than what is possible using an existing 4G service. This analysis shows that FWA and speed-linked tariffs are the best means of doing that, with content-linked offers a more market-specific play.

To achieve digital inclusion and transformation targets in the Caribbean islands, it is crucial to understand how 4G and 5G connectivity gaps will evolve in the period to 2030 under prevailing market conditions. For this, we quantify the additional investment required to bridge mobile coverage and usage gaps in the Caribbean islands by 2030.

MWC Shanghai 2024 attracted nearly 40,000 attendees and 6,500 companies. GSMA Intelligence's engagement across the event spanned summits, sessions and meetings with companies. A key theme across these was the urgency around monetising 5G infrastructure and how that can be done, rather than talking about technology alone.

Setting aside dedicated spectrum for enterprises has been seen as a way of incentivising private network adoption and digitalisation. This research is the first of its kind to apply robust statistical analysis to the impact of spectrum set-asides. The results highlight the need to consider the unintended and undesired consequences of spectrum set-asides, particularly as there is no evidence of a clear benefit.

Indonesia is among the largest and fastest-growing digital economies in Asia-Pacific. While the government's digital roadmap for 2021-2024 recognises ICT infrastructure as a key enabler of digital transformation, realising this vision will only be possible if the country's operators have access to the right amount and type of affordable spectrum.

Assigning radio spectrum to those who can make the most efficient use of it is crucial to maximise the socioeconomic benefits derived from digital services and infrastructure. In Latin America, mobile connectivity remains the foremost form of internet connectivity, particularly because for many it is the only form of connectivity. However, to provide mobile internet services, operators need access to spectrum licences.

This study is the first to establish a causal link between the adoption of digital financial services and long-term economic growth. It shows that mobile money had a positive and significant impact on GDP growth between 2013 and 2022.

In this joint study with Economist Impact and Huawei, we look at the role of infrastructure today and analyse the key challenges and opportunities ahead. Key strategic issues include disentangling which digital technologies are going to be most in demand; the network transformations required by telecoms providers; and the extent to which operators can capitalise on the new wave of growth and business opportunities that are appearing in the market.