Over the last decade the mobile telecoms industry has scaled dramatically. Global mobile connections surpassed 1 billion in 2002, equating to roughly one connection for every six people. By 2012 this had reached 6.5 billion connections - ten connections for every eleven people on the planet.

The rapid expansion of digital technologies, and mobile connectivity in particular, has profoundly impacted scam techniques and their reach. All individuals with a mobile subscription – approximately 5.8 billion people – are potential targets for scams. Rises in the volume, frequency, sophistication and success rate of scams in recent years are having a significant financial impact on victims and the global economy.

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.

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.

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.

Pakistan is an emerging mobile economy, with digital technologies beginning to transform the way people live and work. However, Pakistan still has a sizeable 'coverage gap' and lags behind peers in certain areas, including mobile broadband adoption. As highlighted in this report, policymakers must broaden access to high-quality mobile broadband networks, affordable services and smartphones by implementing fair and predictable tax and spectrum licensing regimes.

The impact of mobile on the Indian economy has grown over the past year, with the ecosystem accounting for 4.7% of the country's GDP in 2021. Based on GSMA Intelligence economic modelling, this report provides a brief snapshot of the economic impact of the mobile industry in India, complementing our global and regional analysis.

This report explores the role that mobile and digital technologies can have on economic growth as 5G begins to enable a new wave of economic transformation. It provides novel evidence of the impact of mobile during the last two decades, a period which covers most of the rollout of three generations of mobile technology in both developed and developing countries.

With more people using mobile services today in Uganda than ever before, the technology is having a direct impact on social and economic activities and, by extension, supporting progress with the national and global development goals. In this report, we highlight five broad areas where the use of mobile technology is having a notable impact in Uganda.

Spain’s mobile sector has shrunk significantly in the year to date, a combination of a clean-up of inactive subscribers, the withdrawal of handset subsidies and the knock-on effects of the country’s economic crisis.

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.

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.

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.

More people than ever before are now accessing the internet through mobile devices. However, the growth rate at which people are adopting mobile internet has remained flat, and significant digital divides persist. Closing these digital divides brings significant socioeconomic benefits and is more crucial than ever.

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.

Connectivity is a fundamental requirement in crisis settings, but the needs of crisis-affected communities are often poorly understood, under-appreciated and under-supported. This report explores the connectivity challenges faced by crisis-affected communities and the efforts to bridge the mobile coverage gap in humanitarian settings.

This report assesses the impact of mobile money interoperability by considering the economic literature on interoperability more generally and utilising a case study approach in five mobile money countries: Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania. In each market, we assess how mobile money adoption and usage evolved after different interoperability solutions took effect.

The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report 2023 provides the mobile industry and other stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of the trends in global connectivity, as well as insights on key barriers to mobile internet adoption and use.