Digital disruption in the media and entertainment industry is not new. However, our research shows that the speed of digital transformation is reaching unprecedented levels. Does this mean that we are on the cusp of a new wave of disruption?

GSMA Intelligence, in collaboration with the GSMA’s Asia Pacific regional team, is today publishing the third in a series of reports focused on efforts to accelerate the implementation of digital societies in Asia Pacific. Alongside mobile connectivity, the report underscores digital identity as the cornerstone in creating digital societies across the region and how policymakers can support that development and the realisation of a various socioeconomic benefits.

Mobile technology plays a critical role in supporting the achievement of the SDGs and Vision 2021 in Bangladesh. Basic voice connectivity offers many societal, economic and environmental benefits. Upgrading to mobile broadband, to smartphones, and further to M2M and IoT, together with rapid digital transformation, creates a significant opportunity for the mobile industry to support governments in meeting their SDG commitments. In this report we examine the priority areas and challenges that Bangladesh is facing, and what mobile can do to help address them.

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 may distort the continued development of the sector. Faced with considerable challenges in having to balance public sector budgets, some governments in Latin America apply additional, sector-specific taxes on consumers and mobile operators.

Ghana has played a proactive role in the SDGs, which aim to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Government commitment to the SDGs reflects the fact that, while Ghana is a fast growing economy (GDP growth has been an impressive 7% per year over the last 10 years), development challenges and gaps in access to basic services persist. Mobile – as a technology and as an industry – is uniquely placed to support the SDGs and development outcomes through the multiplier effect that comes from providing connectivity.

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; this may have a distortive impact on the industry’s development.

Digital health is taking its first steps in some African, Asian and Latin American markets, with a widespread view that greater use of technology and digital solutions can help address key healthcare issues: expanding healthcare coverage (access), enhancing services (quality) and optimising resources (cost).

GSMA Intelligence is today publishing the next instalment in our country overview series, in which we take a close look at Pakistan and examine how the mobile industry is acting as a catalyst for the development of a digital society.

The success of Pokémon Go in the US reflects the profile of mobile gamers in the country, who are predominantly tech-savvy and have an appetite for new mobile technologies that can enhance their mobile digital experience.

Mobile operators across the world face the twin challenges of slowing growth and ongoing disruption of core services by new internet players, even as the broader mobile ecosystem continues to see significant revenue growth. This report highlights the opportunity for operators to undertake digital transformation to benefit from these opportunities and gain a share of the incremental revenues, by developing new business models and skills to compete effectively.

GSMA is today publishing a report that underscores the role mobile connectivity plays in building digital societies across Asia and how policymakers can support the development of digital ecosystems across the region.

Digital inclusion – defined here as the expansion of global connectivity and mobile internet adoption – can deliver broad economic and social benefits by bringing communications services to previously unconnected populations. This in turn can help reduce poverty, improve infrastructure and services, and further increase internet access and usage. Unconnected and underserved communities risk falling further behind, widening the digital divide, if barriers to digital inclusion remain unaddressed.

In this first report we reveal that one in ten of the Latin America population – about 64 million people – are still outside of 3G/4G mobile broadband coverage range, and unable to benefit from the social and economic benefits that mobile broadband connectivity can deliver. Closing these ‘coverage gaps’ and providing universal mobile broadband access is therefore a major goal for regional governments, particularly as fixed-line penetration is very low across much of the region.

This is the second in a series of reports. The first report – Building digital societies in Asia – published in June 2015, analyses key enablers to realising the socioeconomic benefits of digitisation, focusing on the proposed plans of six key countries: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand.

A number of countries in the region have articulated, and in some cases legislated, digital society initiatives as part of their medium- to long-term economic development goals. Their aim is to effect the development of scalable solutions that can increase the level of engagement between governments, businesses and citizens, improve service delivery, drive efficiency in resource utilisation, stimulate economic diversification, create new jobs, and increase overall productivity

The rapid migration towards 4G-LTE in the world’s most advanced mobile markets is driving a surge in data usage, with 4G users typically consuming twice as much data per month as other users. However, while the introduction of 4G has led to an uplift in ARPU in some instances, the impact on revenue varies widely depending on the market.