The Asia-Pacific region has been forecasted to account for almost half of the world’s mobile subscriber growth by the end of 2020. The rapid growth has been attributed to phenomenal increases in both China and India. It has been estimated that by 2020 there will be 3.1 billion unique users in the region.
Startling figures from GSMA Intelligence predict that almost half of the world’s 753 million new subscribers expected by the end of 2020 will be located in both India and China – with 206 million and 155 million new mobile users respectively.
In the latest version of GSMA’s Mobile Economy, which was just recently published - it was further disclosed that the Asia-Pacific region will drive growth as unique subscriber numbers are predicted to rise from 2.7 billion in 2016 to 3.1 billion in 2020. Mobile penetration in APAC will rise from a reported 66% to 75% by 2020. It was also revealed by GSMA Intelligence that more than half of the region’s users had access to 3G or 4G technology. However, this figure is expected to rise exponentially due to the emergence of 5G technology and development also advancing rapidly in developed markets.
Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA, said Asia will be the core engine for subscriber growth on a global basis. He 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 APAC region by 2020.”
