Mobile is now central to economic diversification across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The region has some of the world’s most advanced 5G markets across the Gulf Cooperation Council states, but large parts of MENA's population remain offline, and the 2026 regional conflict has shown how vulnerable digital infrastructure is. In addition to exploring these areas, this report examines how 5G, AI infrastructure and digital identity are transforming the region and explores what policymakers need to do to support operators.

5G monetisation remains a challenge across MENA, with ARPU growth broadly flat – even as operators prepare to invest a further $53 billion between 2026 and 2030 in 5G standalone and 5G-Advanced. This research examines which consumer and enterprise monetisation models are working across MENA, from volume- and speed-based pricing to fixed wireless access, private networks and AI services. It explains why results differ between advanced, growth and future-launch markets, and how spectrum pricing, tariff regulation and device affordability shape what operators can offer.

Operator strategies continue to evolve in the digital era as the telecoms industry seeks to capture new growth opportunities in the consumer and enterprise markets. Assessing innovation and achievements is more important than ever before. GSMA Intelligence's operator case studies provide a concise and consistent way to shine a light on and analyse operators' strategies and business models, as well as how they are launching new services. This edition analyses AT&T's expansion of its IoT Video Intelligence solution with the launch of EdgeVis Cloud.

Operator strategies continue to evolve in the digital era as the telecoms industry seeks to capture new growth opportunities in the consumer and enterprise markets. Assessing innovation and achievements is more important than ever before. GSMA Intelligence's operator case studies provide a concise and consistent way to shine a light on and analyse operators' strategies and business models, as well as how they are launching new services. This edition looks at how NTT Docomo Business is expanding its IoT-focused network-as-a-service platform with the launch of 'Pro'.

Operator strategies continue to evolve in the digital era as the telecoms industry seeks to capture new growth opportunities in the consumer and enterprise markets. Assessing innovation and achievements is more important than ever before. GSMA Intelligence's operator case studies provide a concise and consistent way to shine a light on and analyse operators' strategies and business models, as well as how they are launching new services. This edition explores Telenor's decision to sell a 50% stake in its IoT business to give it more operational independence.

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 almost 900 enterprises from 10 vertical sectors across the GCC and wider MENA region 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 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.

At its recent Global Analyst Event, Mavenir’s core message was that it is back from its recent challenges, recapitalised and refocused. Mavenir’s reset comes against the backdrop of a larger theme playing out in the telecoms industry. Telecoms operators are adopting AI for their internal structural transformation and searching for relevance and a role in the emerging AI ecosystem, as we move towards a token economy that requires distributed pools of intelligence for emerging use cases and workloads. This has major implications for network equipment and software vendors, including Mavenir, in terms of the bets they make.

From the shape and size of markets to trends in consumer behaviour, GSMA Intelligence aims to provide food for thought through informative visuals designed to bring colour and clarity to complex issues facing the industry. This chart highlights how an unreliable connection is the top reason for dissatisfaction among fixed broadband users across most major markets.

Mobile operators face a defining moment in authentication. SMS one-time password (OTP) remains widely used and commercially important, but fraud, rising costs and competition from passkeys and app-based solutions are weakening its position. At the same time, the customer authentication market is growing. This presents operators with an opportunity to build on the reach and trust of the mobile number to secure a larger role in a rapidly expanding market. API-based solutions will be central to this.

GTC Berlin 2026 was this year’s European edition of Nvidia’s flagship event series. Blog posts from GSMA Intelligence provided timely analysis of key messages across the event, as well as the rationale for the telecoms vertical taking a major role in the event’s messaging. However, it is still important to reflect on what GTC conveyed on the evolution of Nvidia’s telco proposition and how its efforts align with market requirements.

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.