This report assesses the impact of mobile money on monetary and financial stability across several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa – something no previous study has done. It shows that mobile money can enable more effective monetary policy and is also associated with growth in the commercial banking sector. The report’s findings are highly relevant to central banks, mobile money providers and the wider financial sector because they can inform policy discussions both in countries where mobile money has not achieved scale and in those where it has.

This latest report from GSMA Intelligence examines mobile sector taxation over time and its impact on connectivity. The report highlights the taxes applied to mobile services and how certain taxes can raise the affordability barrier and reduce the ability of citizens to take part in digital society. It also explores the impact of uncertain tax regimes on operators’ ability to continue investing in new networks.

2018 was a year of change in the IoT platform space with new market entrants, M&A and pragmatic – if unorthodox – partnerships formed. GSMA Intelligence forecasts global IoT revenue to reach $1.1 trillion by 2025, primarily driven by the applications, platforms and services segment. This is, however, a highly competitive part of the value chain. In December 2018, announcements from GE and Samsung took the industry by surprise. GE spun off its IoT software platform (Predix) as a standalone company. Samsung closed its ARTIK platform after four years of operation. The moves reflect a previously overlooked challenge: scale alone is not a precursor to success. IoT is as much about customer education as it is technology. Companies across the spectrum of vendors are intensifying their customer development efforts.

The new year kicked off with CES, showcasing a sprawling array of consumer technology innovations and businesses. Although new products along with partnerships, integrations, upgrades and service launches represent just one way of measuring the impact of the show, they are an important one. They tell us much about the global technology landscape (consumer and enterprise) and what to expect from the year ahead. Here we focus on what they tell us about the shape of the IoT, multiplay (fixed and video) and 5G markets.

This research from GSMA Intelligence examines the synergy between IoT and blockchain/other distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). With IoT growing strongly, DLTs can play a key role by improving IoT technology and enabling trusted IoT verticals.

GSMA Intelligence, in collaboration with the GSMA’s Disaster Response team, is today publishing a report on disaster response in Middle East and North Africa. This report is part of a series focusing on four key regions: Asia Pacific, Middle East & North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

The positive contribution of the mobile sector to the economy is well recognised. However, the tax treatment of the sector is not always aligned with best-practice principles of taxation and can affect the levels of development of digital societies across a region.

The global Internet of Things (IoT) market will be worth $1.1 trillion in revenue by 2025 as market value shifts from connectivity to applications, platforms and services. Players from a range of backgrounds – including telecoms, IT, device manufacturing and systems integration – are all vying to capture a portion of this opportunity.

GSMA Intelligence is today publishing its forecast dataset outlining IoT connections growth for the period 2010–2025.

At the United Nations General Assembly Week, the GSMA published the 2017 Mobile Industry Impact Report: Sustainable Development Goals – the second annual study assessing the mobile industry’s impact in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report, produced by GSMA Intelligence, measures the progress that the industry is making against the SDGs. It also sets out several commitments and initiatives that the GSMA and its members will focus on delivering over the next year, contributing further to achieving the SDGs.

GSMA Intelligence is today publishing the seventh in our country overview series, following Sri Lanka, Peru, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Philippines and Argentina, in which we take a deep dive into the mobile market of Mexico and a closer look at the innovation ecosystem flourishing there.

GSMA Intelligence is today publishing the sixth in our country overview series, following Sri Lanka, Peru, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Philippines, in which we take a deep dive into the mobile market of Argentina and a closer look at the innovation ecosystem taking shape there.

GSMA Intelligence has expanded its coverage of financial metrics, with projections of revenues and ARPU to 2020. Over one-third of operators worldwide consistently report these metrics, across just over half the world’s countries. GSMA Intelligence has modelled values for the remainder that do not report ARPU or revenues to obtain a complete picture of the financial performance of mobile operators globally. GSMA Intelligence clients can access the full set of financial metrics here:

This data provides insight into the pace at which mobile subscribers worldwide are migrating from traditional mobile services such as voice and SMS across to mobile data services, underlining how mobile is now the primary method of getting online for many, especially in the developing world.

In the Mobile for Development (M4D) Impact country overview series, we analyse the evolution and outlook of national mobile markets in the developing world. Each report covers a single country, combining data analysis with on-the-ground interviews to understand how the market has developed and what the future holds.

Mobile networks are now pervasive, with 2G coverage above 90% in the majority of markets and heavy investment being made by operators to bring 3G to similar levels. However, there is still a section of the population – perhaps 10-15% - living outside of coverage range.

Mobile network operators (MNOs) host 943 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) and 255 MNO sub-brands, as of May 2014. This represents a total of almost 1,200 mobile service providers worldwide hosted by MNOs, up from 1,036 in 2012, according to GSMA Intelligence.