Mobile sector to contribute nearly $1 trillion to Asia-Pacific region's GDP by 2030

Mobile connectivity continues to be at the core of digital innovation in the APAC region, enabling a wide range of transformative technologies for individuals and businesses, while helping governments deliver positive social impacts.

According to a report released by GSMA, the APAC region is expected to witness an explosive 10-fold increase in 5G mobile access by 2030 due to the digital transformation wave. By 2030, about 41% of mobile access in the APAC region is expected to be via 5G, a significant increase from 4% in 2022.

This increase is due to factors such as falling 5G terminal prices, rapid network expansion, and integration of mobile technology through government cooperation. However, barriers to mobile adoption remain in some countries, which is expected to result in the world's largest mobile penetration gap by 2030.

According to the GSMA report, spending on 5G telecommunications infrastructure in the APAC region is expected to reach $259 billion during 2023-2030, with investments going to expand connectivity areas and mainly deploy full-scale 5G deployments.

According to analysts, after the widespread construction of 5G networks over the past few years in pioneering 5G markets, leading to record investment intensity in some markets, capital expenditures (CAPEX) in these markets will begin to decline.

Instead, mobile operators will shift their focus to monetizing 5G services after already investing heavily in them. While pioneering markets in the region will ramp up 5G investment in 2023, the pace of 5G deployment will not be enough to prevent an overall decline in investment. This is because previous generations of networks, such as 3G and 4G, will remain integral to the connectivity landscape for the foreseeable future.

Data traffic over telecommunications networks is growing exponentially as more people take advantage of broadband connections and the demand for data-intensive digital content increases.

According to GSMA research, to accommodate growing digital traffic and maintain service performance, mobile operators must continuously invest to expand network capacity, close coverage gaps and deploy new technologies.

By the end of 2030, there will be an estimated 1.4 billion 5G connections in the APAC region. This increased adoption of 5G will have a profound impact on industries such as services and manufacturing, with applications in smart cities, smart factories and smart grids. According to GSMA forecasts, 5G will add more than $133 billion to the APAC economy by 2030.

The report points out that mature mobile markets such as South Korea, Australia, Japan and Singapore are leading 5G technology innovations, but predicts that mobile access and usage will remain difficult in some other APAC countries.

However, around 47% of the population in the APAC region lacks access to mobile internet, lagging behind Latin America, China and Eurasia. To close this gap, the lack of digital technology, economic issues and concerns about online safety among the elderly are identified as factors that need to be considered.

Between 2022 and 2030, the number of mobile subscribers in the APAC region is expected to increase by 400 million to 2.11 billion, and mobile penetration is expected to increase to 70%. However, it is still expected to be lower than the global average of 73%.

The mobile sector plays a major role in the APAC economy, contributing $810 billion in economic value in 2022, accounting for nearly 5% of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP). This contribution is expected to reach nearly $1 trillion ($990 billion) by the end of the decade.

The services and manufacturing industries are expected to be the main beneficiaries of 5G technology, driven by the adoption of smart city solutions, smart factories, and the integration of 5G into smart grids.

The report also highlights the increasingly important monetization challenges of attracting new customers and increasing consumption from existing customers, while virtual reality and augmented reality technologies are expected to play a key role in creating new consumer experiences by leveraging the speed, latency and capacity of 5G.

The report also shows that the fintech industry is growing rapidly in APAC, from large mature markets to emerging markets. In particular, the fintech sector has continued to grow since the COVID-19 pandemic and financial inclusion in APAC is improving, with mobile money accounts on the rise.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Julian Gorman, Head of APAC, GSMA said: “As the world's largest geographically spread mobile market, the APAC connectivity ecosystem is diverse and includes both pioneering mobile innovators and emerging markets.”

“The region has some of the fastest growing 5G markets in the world today, particularly India, which will add tens of millions of 5G connections in 2023. However, across APAC, we are also seeing a huge disparity in mobile internet usage,” added Julian Gorman.

To help people in the APAC region fully access mobile connectivity, the head of APAC at GSMA said that governments need to establish a flexible, forward-looking policy and regulatory regime to support the deployment and operation of mobile networks. This includes greater efforts to close the digital divide, especially for women and vulnerable groups such as the working poor, migrant workers, child workers, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, reintegrated people, etc.