Asia-Pac growth shows China and India bringing in new subscribers

By the end of 2020, the Asia-Pacific region will be the source of around two-thirds of the global growth in mobile subscribers, according to GSMA Intelligence.

The number of unique users in the region is projected to hit 3.1 billion in this timeframe, with rapid uptake in China and India indicating that these markets will respectively have 155 million and 206 million new users by 2020 – accounting for almost half of the 753 million new subscribers anticipated by the end of 2020.

In 2016, around half of Asia-Pacific mobile subscribers were able to use 3G or 4G technology, and this is expected to continue increasing rapidly, with 5G is expected to become prevalent more quickly than its precursor technologies. Currently, mobile penetration in the region is around 66% of the population, with 2.7 billion unique subscribers. The projected increase will see this rate hit 75% by 2020.

Mats Granryd, director general of the GSMA, said: “Led by India and China, Asia’s mobile industry will be the main engine of global subscriber growth for the remainder of the decade, connecting almost half a billion new customers across the region by 2020.”

“We are also seeing a dramatic shift to mobile broadband networks, particularly 4G, which is providing a platform for a rich range of innovative new services across both developed and emerging markets in the region”, added Granryd. “Meanwhile, advanced operators in Asia are set to become among the first in the world to launch commercial 5G networks before the end of the decade.”

GSMA analysts estimated the “economic value” of mobile technologies and services in the Asia-Pacific region to be around $1.3 trillion – around 5.2% of regional GDP. By 2020, this figure will likely tick up to $1.6 trillion, accounting for 5.4%.

However, the report noted that there were major discrepancies between markets in the region, with North Korea and some of the Pacific Islands faring poorly in terms of mobile penetration.