Around 40% of people in the developing world now actively subscribe to mobile services, with many more having access to a mobile, if not direct ownership. Mobile access in these regions has outpaced the rate at which much of the population is gaining access to basic services such as electricity, sanitation, and banking. As such, there has been increased focus on the role mobile can play in improving social, economic and environmental development in emerging markets.

The mobile industry has made good progress in ensuring LTE spectrum harmonisation on a regional basis. However, it has only recently started tackling the challenge of developing an LTE smartphone that works worldwide. Such a device would improve economies of scale for both device manufacturers and operators, while nurturing global LTE roaming and triggering the faster adoption of LTE services.

A major new study by GSMA Intelligence highlights how mobile operators were able to squeeze capital expenditure (capex) during the economic downturn in order to protect cash flows and maintain profits – but warns that network investments must increase if the industry is to fully exploit the potential of new technologies such as LTE.

Mobile operators in the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - are accounting for a rapidly growing share of global mobile revenue, and are on track to overtake the US in market size (revenue) by 2012.