THE NEW INTERNET: MEGATRENDS SHAPING THE MOBILE ECOSYSTEM

A new report on global mobile trends found a major shift in mobile to Asia, particularly India, and highlighted the transition to a smartphone-powered ‘mobilefirst’ internet.

ondon based The GSMA, which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with almost 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, has launched its inaugural Global Mobile Trends report, which includes data on mobile subscriber growth trends, mobile internet adoption, devices, and industry financials from both a global and regional perspective.

“This first edition of the annual Global Mobile Trends report pulls together key data and analysis from GSMA Intelligence to present a comprehensive view of the megatrends shaping the global mobile ecosystem,” says Hyunmi Yang, chief strategy officer at the GSMA in a statement.

“In this year’s report we demonstrate evidence of a major shift in mobile to Asia, particularly India, which has now overtaken China to become the industry’s key growth market, and the transition to a smartphone-powered ‘mobilefirst’ internet, which is delivering a new generation of internet users. The study also underscores the role of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things in ushering a new era of automation.”

Key megatrends covered in the report include:

Asia becomes the growth engine of the mobile ecosystem

More than one billion additional people worldwide will be connected to mobile networks by 2020. Approximately a third of these new users will come from India (337 million), underlining the country’s increasing position as the world’s most significant mobile growth market, overtaking China.

China is forecast to add more than 200 million subscribers and there will also be major net subscriber contributions from Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. In total, these six Asian markets will account for approximately 60 percent of the 1.1 billion new subscribers added globally by the end of the decade.

The mobile internet is the internet

New mobile subscribers are more likely to be younger and are also more likely to be ‘mobile-first’ or ‘mobile-only’ internet users. Today 46 percent of the global population is using mobile phones to access the internet, a figure forecast to increase to 60 percent by 2020. As there will only be a minimal increase in the number of fixed internet households over this period, the increase in mobile phone ownership will therefore be the key factor driving global internet penetration. The increasing availability and affordability of 3G/4G devices and networks is also contributing to this phenomenon. Fastgrowth markets where mobile internet penetration is currently low include India (32 percent of the population) and SubSaharan Africa (25 percent).

Smartphones are king – even in low-income markets

The study indicates that smartphones may now be the most commonly owned consumer electronics device. In the UK, for example, smartphone penetration now stands at 71 percent of mobile connections. This compares to 60-70 percent across the rest of Europe, 75 percent in the US, and above 80 percent in some Asian markets such as South Korea and Singapore. However, the report says that smartphone growth has plateaued in most developed markets. By contrast, the smartphone adoption