Resources

India NTP 2018

Fast track Digital Switch Over in the region

Global Mobile Rader

January 2018: The Global Mobile Radar is focused on disruption and emerging opportunities in the TMT space and digital ecosystem, and the potential impact on consumer behaviour, business models and competition. This edition looks into the topics including blockchain, edge computing, augmented reality and HD mapping.

IoT Case Study Report, Greater China

March 2018: China Mobile, China Telecom, Chunghwa Telecom, Huawei and ZTE Showcase How Mobile IoT is Helping to Deliver Everything From Smart Cities to Smart Metering

The Mobile Economy Report 2018

February 2018: Two-thirds of the world’s mobile connections will be running on 4G and 5G networks by 2025, according to the new 2018 edition of the GSMA’s ‘Mobile Economy’ report, published today at Mobile World Congress.

Unique subscribers and mobile internet users: understating the new growth story

February 2018: 2017 was a milestone year for the mobile industry, with the number of people connected to mobile services surpassing 5 billion, and those accessing mobile internet services exceeding 3 billion. With unique subscriber growth slowing, mobile internet adoption will increasingly become the key metric by which to measure the reach of the mobile industry.

State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money

February 2018: 2017 saw a number of new trends in mobile money – from the accelerated growth of bank-to-mobile interoperability, to the emergence of South Asia as the fastest growing region, and a raft of innovations designed to reach the most underserved.

Infographics

February 2018: Internet of Things, Global mobile revenue outlook, Mobile connections by technology, Unique subscribers and mobile internet users, 2025 Global mobile device forecasts, 5G spectrum

Bangladesh: Driving mobile-enabled digital transformation

December 2017: By collaborating more closely on opportunities that align with each stakeholder’s organisational goals, the government and industry have an exciting opportunity to unlock digital transformation for millions of Bangladeshis.

Unique subscribers and mobile internet users: understanding the new growth story

December 2017 was a milestone year for the mobile industry, with the number of people connected to mobile services surpassing 5 billion, and those accessing mobile internet services exceeding 3 billion. There are still growth opportunities that by 2025 will push the number of unique subscribers to 5.9 billion globally, some 72% of the world’s population, or 78% of the addressable population.

IPA and the GSMA IoT security guidelines closely aligned

December 2017: At the end of September 2017, the Information-Technology Protection Agency (IPA) of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) updated and streamlined its security guidelines on Internet of Things (IoT). The GSMA has also revised its IoT security guidelines recently on an independent basis. The GSMA Asia Pacific (APAC) has compared the two sets of guidelines and found them closely aligned in addressing the basic principles for ensuring the security of IoT networks. This 13-page document summarizes the key points and shows the comparisons.

5G connections to surpass 1 billion by 2025

December 2017: Forecasted 5G connections globally will reach more than 1.2 billion by 2025, accounting for around 14% of total connections, excluding M2M.

Bangladesh: Driving mobile-enabled digital transformation

December 2017: How mobile technology can accelerate Bangladesh’s progress towards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its national development plan (Vision 2021).

Triggering mobile internet use among men and women in South Asia

November 2017: This report is based on qualitative research conducted in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and provides insights and practical recommendations on how the mobile industry can trigger mobile internet uptake among non-users (particularly women) in South Asia who appear to be economically and technically well positioned to begin using it.

Start-ups and Mobile in Emerging Markets: Issue 1, Autumn 2017

November 2017: This new publication is designed to best capture the evolution of a fast-moving space, and is applicable to anyone who recognises that start-ups and mobile technology are forces to be reckoned with in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a commercially sustainable manner.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q3 2017

October 2017: The regional slides feature easy to digest statistics and data visuals covering mobile adoption, market structure, network launches, technology migration, and financials.

2017 Mobile Industry Impact Report

September 2017, The mobile industry is having a profound impact on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The second edition of the Mobile Industry Impact Report assesses our industry’s progress towards the SDGs and our shared vision: Connecting everyone and everything to a #betterfuture.
English | Chinese

2017 Mobile Industry Impact Report

September 2017, The mobile industry is having a profound impact on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The second edition of the Mobile Industry Impact Report assesses our industry’s progress towards the SDGs and our shared vision: Connecting everyone and everything to a #betterfuture.

Global Mobile Trends 2017

September 2017: This report provides exclusive data and analysis on the key trends shaping the future of the mobile ecosystem.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q2 2017

July 2017: The report features easy to digest statistics and data visuals covering mobile adoption, market structure, network launches, technology migration, and financials.

Mobile money and e-commerce: Three areas of partnership in Southeast Asia

June 2017: This paper discusses the vast growth potential for e-commerce in the region, current challenges to scale, and how mobile money providers can establish mutually beneficial partnerships with e-commerce players through three focus areas.

The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2017

June 2017: The latest insights on the state of the economy.

The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2017 Infographics

June 2017: The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2017 Infographics

5G in China: Outlook and regional comparisons

June 2017: The analysis makes comparisons between China and the other leading markets in the region, including Japan and South Korea. It explores the near-term outlook for testing and commercial launches, and potential use cases in the consumer and enterprise segments, as well as presenting forecasts for the number of 5G connections and the key future challenges.
English | Chinese

Number of unique mobile subscribers worldwide hits five billion infographics

June 2017: Number of unique mobile subscribers worldwide hits five billion infographics

India’s Digital Promise

February 2017: An update on Indian mobile market and the role of government policy in shaping market trends.

Country overview: Pakistan A digital future

December 2016: In this report, we look at how mobile is supporting the objectives of Pakistan’s Vision 2025 strategy, which aims to transition the country into a globally competitive knowledge-based economy by the middle of the next decade, with a high quality of life for all its citizens.

Managing disaster response through mobile: Asia Pacific

November 2016: The report provides an overview of the Asia Pacific mobile market, the disaster risk landscape and examples of the innovative solutions being developed by the industry. As well as providing a regional overview, this report focuses on two markets – Bangladesh and Myanmar. These countries have been selected as examples due to their disaster risk profiles.

Data monetisation the key as Myanmar exits growth phase

November 2016: With operators continuing to invest in 4G technology and coverage without charging a premium for the service, the financial outlook remains challenging. To address this, in the years ahead operators in Myanmar will need to more effectively monetise data, particularly as locally relevant content is developed.

Global Mobile Trends report highlights shift to Asia

October 2016: Our first Global Mobile Trends report compiles data on mobile subscriber growth trends, mobile internet adoption, devices, and industry financials from both a global and regional perspective.

Global Mobile Trends

October 2016: This flagship report offering a wealth of data and insight on the state of the mobile ecosystem today and mapping out its future development.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q3 2016

October 2016: The report provides content from our News Feed tool, our consumer survey results, and featured data from external data providers. The regional slides feature easy-to-digest statistics covering mobile adoption, market structure, network launches, technology migration and financials.

Reliance Jio’s entry changes landscape of India’s mobile market

September 2016: Research Note on the launch of Reliance Jio in the Indian mobile market.

Mobile operator group ranking, Q2 2016

September 2016: China Mobile was comfortably the largest group in terms of connections, the remaining positions in the top 10 were predominantly filled by operator groups with substantial global footprints across multiple markets and/or a strong presence in the US.

Mobile Connectivity Launch Report

July 2016: Mobile Connectivity Index helps to measure the performance of 134 countries, accounting for more than 95% of the world’s population, against four key enablers of mobile internet connectivity: infrastructure, affordability, consumer readiness and content.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q2 2016

July 2016: The report now provides content from our News Feed tool, our consumer survey results, and featured data from external data providers. This quarter, we have focused on the adoption of IP messaging apps and its impact on traditional text (SMS). Our consumer survey results provide insights into this topic and SimilarWeb to shed some light on the use of IP messaging apps on Android devices.

Asia Pacific Mobile Economy

June 2016: The report comprises all our latest statistics and forecasts on the world’s largest mobile region and the summary is available in the infographics.
Full Report | Infographics

India’s Improving financials mask deeper problems

June 2016: With EBITDA margins improving after 2012 and rising capex painting a picture of a market in good health, India has however, behind these top-level numbers lies a two-tier mobile market in which even the largest operators need to continue to seek scale to remain viable in the long term.

Asia set to lead development of mobile 5G

June 2016: We expect commercial 5G launches in South Korea, Japan and China by 2020, even though 5G standardisation is not scheduled to be completed until then.

Connected Society: Mobile Connectivity Index Launch Report

June 2016: Mobile Connectivity Index is an online tool that measures the four key enablers for driving mobile internet adoption. GSMA Intelligence has authored a launch report that outlines the key findings.

Consumer barriers to mobile internet adoption in Asia

June 2016: Tackling affordability and digital literacy, and ensuring that locally relevant content and services are available, will be key to connecting the over 2 billion citizens in Asia that are covered by mobile broadband networks but not yet connected. Further collaboration between mobile operators and governments will help extend mobile connectivity and internet services to millions of citizens across the region.

Advancing Digital Societies in Asia

April 2016: This report focuses on the digital society initiatives underway in seven Asian countries, Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Singapore and Thailand. Each market is assessed on its levels of connectivity, digital citizenship, digital lifestyle and digital commerce.

April, Global cellular market trends and insight – Q1 2016

April, 2016: The report features an enhanced focus on financial, spectrum, M2M, device, tariff and internet trends.

February Smartphones dominating global mobile connections base

February 2016: Smartphone adoption globally had reached 45% of total connections by Q4 2015. In this report we look at how smartphone adoption is growing fast in developing markets while a slowdown is occurring in the developed world.

Calculating future subscriber growth opportunities

February 2016: Following rapid growth since 2010, subscriber growth is set to slow from 2016. One billion unique subscribers are forecast to be added worldwide by 2020, India and China together accounting for around 45% of these new additions.

Moving beyond subscriber growth

February 2016: Almost three-quarters of the world’s population will be connected to a mobile network by 2020 and more on emerging opportunities as mobile adoption approaches saturation.

Smartphones dominating global mobile connections base

February 2016: Smartphone adoption is growing fast in developing markets and reached 40% in Q4 2015. While adoption in the developed world is higher at 65%, the trend is a slowdown as adoption reaches a ceiling in terms of addressable market. The report highlights the huge growth potential in India, which is set to become the second largest smartphone market, overtaking the US.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q4 2015

December 2015: The report features an enhanced focus on financial, spectrum, M2M, device, tariff and internet trends in each region over the past quarter.

The Mobile Economy India 2015

November 2015: The mobile industry in India has scaled dramatically over recent years to become one of the country’s biggest success stories. With over half a billion mobile subscribers, the Indian market is already the second largest in the world. Technology migration is under way and accelerating, with more than 40% of mobile connections forecast to be running over mobile broadband networks by 2020.
Full Report, Infographic

Building digital societies in Asia: Making commerce smarter

November 2015: This report discuss the development of digital payments, in particular mobile money, and how it can enable digital commerce. It focus on the opportunity that this solution can bring to the people of Pakistan and the key roles that stakeholders can play in realising the full potential of digital commerce.

Delivering an all IP World statistics

November 2015: See which countries have VoLTE, how many operators have launched voice over WiFi and the reach of LTE which now covers 44% of the population.
IP Communications Statistics, VoLTE operator launches, RCS operator launches, VoWiFi operator launches

The future of SMS in the evolving messaging market

November 2015: IP messaging players are gaining scale and disrupting the traditional SMS model. In markets where this is taking place, SMS volumes have declined since plateauing around 2010. However, our research shows that not all markets are seeing the same trends, with evidence that the decline in SMS volumes has been slower in markets where unlimited SMS tariffs are common. The report also outlines how operators can potentially compete in the messaging space through feature-rich services such as RCS, which will be dependent on widespread collaboration between operators.

Use of C-band spectrum for mobile broadband in cities: London and Shenzhen

November 2015: The study provides an independent assessment of the economic benefits that would arise through use of C-band spectrum for mobile services within two major cities – London and Shenzhen.

Global momentum and economic impact of the 1.4/1.5 GHz band (L- band) for IMT

October 2015: The paper finds that the potential economic benefits from IMT (i.e. mobile broadband) services use of 1452-1492 MHz could amount to at least USD40bn globally, based on stated country positions at the time of writing. A further USD9bn could be realised if those Asia Pacific countries not supporting 1452-1492 MHz moved to support use of the band for IMT services.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q3 2015

October 2015: The report features an enhanced focus on financial, spectrum, network, M2M, device, tariff and internet trends in each region over the past quarter.

Building digital societies in Asia: Making transportation smarter

August 2015: Among the key emerging markets in Asia, Thailand (and specifically the city of Bangkok) faces many transportation challenges around congestion and safety. Using a case-based approach, we analyse the potential impact of ITS on reducing commuting time, CO2 emissions and road traffic accidents in the city of Bangkok.

Setting the scene for future MVNO growth

August 2015: This latest report from GSMA Intelligence highlights the likely casualties and examines how new MVNOs are adapting their business models and differentiators in the quest for future growth.

Infographic: Measuring mobile internet services penetration in Asia Pacific

July 2015: Measuring mobile internet services penetration in Asia Pacific

Infographic: Supporting 4G-LTE adoption in Asia Pacific

July 2015: Supporting 4G-LTE adoption in Asia Pacific

Infographic: Asia Pacific set to fuel growth in the app economy

July 2015: Asia Pacific set to fuel growth in the app economy

How 4G device in China are transforming the world’s largest mobile

July 2015: The new study finds that smartphone adoption in the country had reached 62% of the 1.3 billion mobile connections registered at the end of Q1 2015, above the average level in Europe (55%). The report also provides analysis of the number of smartphone models available in the Chinese market and retail pricing trends.

Infographic: The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2015

July 2015: The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2015

The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2015

July 2015: Mobile Economy Report sees rapid global migration to Mobile Broadband Networks; mobile industry to make rising contribution to global GDP, public funding and jobs.

Mobile Internet usage challenges in Asia – awareness, literacy and local content

July 2015: Nearly 800 million new mobile internet subscribers are forecast to come online in Asia Pacific by 2020, the vast majority of these coming from emerging markets in the region. The report finds that mobile network operators (as well as other stakeholders) have a key role to play in overcoming the barriers that exist for both existing and new mobile internet subscribers.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q2 2015

July 2015: The report includes the key industry developments and data trends that took place in each region over the past quarter and with enhanced focus on financial, spectrum, network, M2M, device, tariff and internet trends.

Building digital societies in Asia

June 2015: The purpose of this report is to analyse the key enablers in realising the socioeconomic benefits of digitisation, focusing on the proposed plans of six key countries – Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand.

Closing the coverage gap – a view from Asia

June 2015: This report focused in collaboration with the GSMA’s Digital Inclusion programme focused on efforts to close mobile network ‘coverage gaps’, focusing on Asia and mainly in rural areas. The appendix includes three country case studies – India, Malaysia and Myanmar – to illustrate efforts, progress and learnings from their drive to expand coverage and increase mobile internet take-up.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q1 2015

April, 2015: GSMA Intelligence’s quarterly review of regional mobile trends.

2014 State of the Industry Report for Mobile Financial Services

March 2015: As of December 2014, there were 255 live mobile money services in 89 markets. Registered mobile money accounts globally grew to 299 million in 2014, with seven new markets joining the ranks of countries where there are more mobile money accounts than bank accounts, bringing the total to 16 markets.

Global cellular M2M technology forecasts and assumptions

March 2015: The research shows that 77% of cellular M2M connections worldwide were running on 2G networks as of 2014. By 2020, we forecast that mobile broadband networks (3G and 4G) will account for 56% of cellular M2M connections, while the remainder (44%) will continue to run on 2G. Migration away from 2G network is already well underway in Asia Pacific, especially in Japan, Korea and Australia. In these developed markets, the migration of M2M towards mobile broadband network is happening at a faster rate than in other developed markets.

From feature phones to smartphones, the road ahead

December 2014: In 2010, the US and Europe accounted for 41% of smartphones on mobile operators networks compared to 11% for China and 38% for the rest of the developing world. In 2013, these same splits were 25%, 25% and 40%. Fast forward to 2020, , and our expectation is for 14%, 20% and 60% – in other words, 80% of the 5.89 billion smartphone connections will come from emerging markets.

Case Study: How Mobile is Extending Education in the Philippines

December 2014: Through mEducation, mobile operator and the Filipino Government are enhancing the lives of millions of young people.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q4 2014

December 2014: The report features an enhanced focus on financial, spectrum, network, M2M, device, tariff and internet trends. Key industry developments and data trends that took place in each region over the past quarter have identified and summarised.

Maymay in Myanmar – How and why Ooredoo are targeting Myanmar women

December 2014: This year Ooredoo is going head to head with Telenor in a race for customers in Myanmar, one of the last untapped mobile market. In a country where 9 out of 10 people have never owned a mobile phone, Ooredoo’s strategy is to ‘leapfrog’ traditional mobile usage by launching a 3G-only network. In this document we highlight how and why Ooredoo Myanmar hopes to capture the female segment.

Mobile internet subscriber forecasts and assumptions: 2010-2020

December 2014: Half of the world’s population subscribed to mobile internet by 2020. According to the new figures, there were 2.2 billion subscribers to the mobile internet in 2013, representing approximately 30% of the global population. It is forecast that an additional 1.6 billion citizens worldwide will become mobile internet subscribers by 2020, bringing the total number to 3.8 billion, equivalent to half of the world’s expected population in 2020.

Understanding 5G

December 2014: 5G is still to be standardised by the industry. This report therefore focuses on the current state of 5G development and the technological innovations and evolutionary path that will be required to deliver the 5G vision.

Emerging market entrepreneurs & Silicon Valley

December 2014: While launching a new mobile product or service is easier than ever, scaling one is not. Many emerging-market entrepreneurs lack experience in effective marketing, optimising service architecture for scale, or capturing and analysing user data to steer growth and development. In this report, we present recommended actions and potential benefits for stakeholders who can accelerate the scaling of mobile-enabled products and services in emerging markets.

Country overview: Philippines – Growth through innovation

December 2014: The Philippines has become one of the fastest growing economies and mobile markets in Asia, and with its high level of consumer engagement in mobile and technology, the country has come to differentiate itself from other fast growing peers in Asia, particularly in the area of innovation. In this report, we analyse the factors behind the transformation of the Philippines into an innovation hotbed in South East Asia, in many ways presenting a model from which other countries can glean insights for catalysing their own innovation ecosystems.

Huge scale of 4G in Asia helps drive global innovation

November 2014: The scale of 4G deployments in Asia has not only led to falling network costs for the entire industry, it has also driven the overall level of maturity of 4G across the world. The industry is no longer looking to Europe or Silicon Valley for innovation and leadership.

GSMA Digital Inclusion Report

November 2014: The GSMA has published a Digital Inclusion report, which focuses on the challenges in extending mobile Internet services to currently unconnected populations. The report highlights four critical areas that need to be addressed to enable ‘offline’ populations to access mobile Internet services, including: extending network coverage into remote, off-grid locations; removing affordability barriers by reducing government taxes and fees; tackling illiteracy, digital illiteracy and lack of internet awareness; and ensuring mobile internet content is locally relevant.

The GSMA’s Digital Inclusion programme is collaborating with mobile operators, governments, broader mobile ecosystem players and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to address the barriers to mobile Internet adoption in the developing world, with the aim of supporting the connection of an additional one billion people. Learn more about the GSMA’s Digital Inclusion programme

Capitalising on ASEAN’s Mobile Moment: Effective Mobile Policy And Regulation For The ASEAN Economic Community

October 2014: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has experienced tremendous economic growth and social development in the recent past, with the mobile industry as a significant regional driver. A robust mobile sector is a significant economic advantage, and the creation of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 presents even more opportunity to drive growth in the mobile sector and make substantial contributions across many different economic and social areas. However, some challenges remain to unlocking the true potential of mobile across the ASEAN region. With this in mind, the GSMA and its members have developing this paper to support ASEAN in the development of effective policies and actions in key focus areas critical to the success of the AEC’s mission.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q3 2014

September 2014: The report features an enhanced focus on financial, spectrum, network, M2M, devices, tariffs and internet trends. Some of the key industry developments and data trends that took place in each region over the past quarter are identified and summarised.

Cellular M2M forecasts & assumptions: 2010-2020, Unlocking the M2M opportunity through collaboration and interoperability

September 2014: Our findings show that global cellular M2M connections are currently set to reach close to one billion by 2020. However we calculate that the market base could be double that if a number of growth factors are successfully enabled by industry players and governments in the short to medium term.

Chinese carriers dominate global operator ranking as M&A deals shake up US market

September 2014: New GSMA Intelligence analysis ranks top 30 operator groups based on connections and revenue

Smartphone forecasts and assumptions 2007-2020

September 2014: Smartphones will account for two out of every three mobile connections globally by 2020. Asia Pacific today accounts for about half of global smartphone connections, even though smartphone penetration in the region is currently calculated at below 40 per cent. The Asia Pacific total is boosted by the inclusion of China, the world’s largest smartphone market, with more than 629 million smartphone connections.

Snapshot: Consumer Insights for Adolescent Girls – the case of BRAC in Bangladesh

August 2014: This case study looks at how Robi Axiata conducted in-depth consumer insights research with rural adolescent girls and other stakeholders in order to create a mobile education service aimed at employment for young rural Bangladeshi girls, in partnership with BRAC Bangladesh.

Rebalancing the value from voice and SMS to data – a new approach to data tariffs for operators in developed markets

August 2014: The continued decline in voice and SMS revenues coupled with a rise in data revenues illustrates the ongoing transformation in the mobile operator’s business model. Mobile operators must seek to manage the change in usage patterns and pricing to minimise any cannibalisation of voice and SMS revenues, and to ensure that margins are protected and future investment remains viable.

Mobile churn trends and customer retention strategies – maintaining market share in the data-centric era

August 2014: Churn has been declining in Asia whereas in Europe and the Americas churn has remained somewhat flat. The reduction in churn amongst these operators was either due to structural changes in the market or retention strategies that operators have implemented.

Green Power for Mobile Bi-Annual report

August 2014: This is the tenth Bi-annual Report published by the Green Power for Mobile programme which presents the latest industry and programme developments, notably in Myanmar where the team has begun country-focussed activities.

Mobile churn trends and customer retention strategies-maintaining market share in the data-centric era

August 2014: Trends vary by region as churn has been declining in Asia whereas in Europe and the Americas churn has remained somewhat flat. Our research shows that of 130 operators who report churn figures on a regular basis, only 13 managed to reduce total churn on a yearly basis since 2011.

Country overview: Bangladesh: Value added services key to next phase of mobile growth

August 2014: This country overview assesses Bangladesh, one of the most populous and most densely populated countries in the world. Despite being ranked as a low income country, over 50% of the adult population subscribes to mobile services and it has outpaced all its peers in terms of network coverage.

Myanmar ready to leap into 3G era

August 2014: Myanmar is poised to leapfrog into the 3G era and move up from the bottom of the mobile penetration charts after Qatar-based Ooredoo was the first of two foreign firms to launch commercial 3G service last Friday.

China to continue to drive iPhone sales – despite subsidy cuts

August 2014: Neither cuts in handset subsidies, nor rumours of government bans, will dent sales of iPhones in China anytime soon.

Vodafone, Indian government yet to agree on third arbitrator in tax dispute

August 2014: Vodafone and the Indian government have still to settle on the important choice of third arbitrator in their tax dispute, although The Economic Times reports relations have warmed between the two sides since the election of a new government.

Sizing the Opportunity: Green Telecoms in Myanmar – Market Analysis

July, 2014: This Market Analysis for Myanmar aims at providing market insights and highlight opportunities for telecom operators in the green power sector. The report analyses the state of the telecom market and how networks are currently being powered to provide an understanding of the potential of alternative energy solutions. The report looks at the industry structure, the regulatory environment and the current state of power within the telecom infrastructure, influencing the potential for green power solutions.

The Global MVNO Landscape 2012-14

June 2014: MVNOs remain most prevalent in mature markets where penetration (based on connections) has surpassed 100%. Europe is home to more than two thirds of global MVNOs (579), followed by the Americas (128) and Asia (79).

Half a billion Chinese citizens have subscribed to the mobile internet

June 2014: China is home to half a billion mobile internet subscribers, mobile is the primary means to access the internet in the country.

Mixed picture for 4G in Asia Pacific as lack of low-frequency spectrum limits coverage

June 2014: Asian carriers allocated insufficient sub-1GHz spectrum since 2010. Less than 10% of the population in Asia Pacific was covered by a 4G-LTE network at the end of last year.

Creating Sustainable Mobile Employment Solutions to Address Youth Unemployment

June 2014: Mobile is increasingly being deployed to help address youth unemployment. The GSMA’s recent report on mobile services for youth unemployment addresses job connection solutions as a core service, around which other value-added services can be added, to alleviate some of the structural issues that can be barriers to employment in emerging markets.

Women in Agriculture: A Toolkit For Mobile Services Practitioners

June 2014: The ‘Women in Agriculture: a Toolkit for Mobile Services Practitioners’, created in partnership with GSMA mWomen, is a resource for MNOs and members of the wider mobile ecosystem who are thinking to develop mobile agricultural services for rural women. The toolkit provides a step-by-step guide across each stage of the product development process, along with successful examples and recommendations. The focus is broadly on Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, the framework may also applied to other developing regions.

Global cellular market trends and insight — Q2 2014

June 2014: In this Q2 2014 issue, our analyst team has identified and summarised some of the key industry developments and data trends that took place in each region over the past quarter.

The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2014

June 2014: Total mobile connections in Asia Pacific stood at 3.4 billion at the end of 2013 and are forecast to increase to 4.8 billion by 2020.

How China is Set for Global M2M Leadership

June 2014: China is the global leader in the adoption of M2M technology with over 50 million connections or more than one quarter of the total M2M market in 2013. New report released by GSMA reveals that China’s leading mobile operators have developed sophisticated M2M service propositions that go beyond the provision of basic connectivity.

Transforming Women’s Livelihoods Through Mobile Broadband

June 2014: A study on the value of mobile broadband for working women in the developing world with a case study from Indonesia.

Asian carriers allocated insufficient sub-1GHz spectrum since 2010

June 2014: Mixed picture for 4G in Asia Pacific as lack of low-frequency spectrum limits coverage. Less than 10% of the population in Asia Pacific was covered by a 4G-LTE network at the end of last year, according to GSMA Intelligence research.

Measuring mobile penetration

May, 2014: Untangling ‘subscribers’, ‘mobile owners’ and ‘users’.

The synergies between mobile, energy and water access: Asia

May, 2014: GSMA Mobile Enabled Community Service Programme has released a new report, presenting in more detail the current initiatives, business models and opportunities the mobile sector can play in Asia to better address development challenges around energy and water access.

Infographic: Defining mobile penetration in India

April, 2014: Population, subscribers and connection in India.

Snapshot: MAMA in Bangladesh, including men in mobile services for women

April, 2014: In cultures where women’s empowerment is a complex, challenging subject on both social and cultural levels, men can be the champions or detractors to any approach. MAMA tackles this issue by integrating men and other household members within their offerings. The Aponjon program (the local brand of MAMA in Bangladesh) aims to reach three million pregnant women, new mothers and their families within three years, achieving sustained improvements in knowledge, healthy behaviors and health outcomes.

Reading in Mobile Era – A study of mobile study in developing countries

April, 2014: Mobile phones provide access to text where books are scarce – a huge potential to combat illiteracy.

Global cellular market trends and insight – Q1 2014

March 2014: The review covers all regions (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Northern America) with trend analysis and insight on each including the latest aggregated data tables, key trends, market drivers and challenges for each region.

Green Site Selection Best Practice: Pakistan and Afghanistan

March 2014: This document provides guidelines for MNOs to determine if a site is a suitable candidate to convert into a green site and provide a best practice process for MNOs.

Infographic: Defining mobile penetration in China: population, subscribers and connections

March 2014: Infographic: Defining mobile penetration in China: population, subscribers and connections

Global 4G-LTE connections forecast: 2010 to 2020

March 2014: Infographic: Global 4G-LTE connections forecast: 2010 to 2020

Infographic: Global M2M connections: 2010 to present

March 2014: Infographic: Global M2M connections: 2010 to present

Infographic: Mobile network technology lifecycle: the future of 2G networks

March 2014: Infographic: Mobile network technology lifecycle: the future of 2G networks

Transforming education throughout the Philippines – Connected Living case study

March 2014: The Text2Teach initiative illustrates what can be achieved through multi-sector partnerships in education – government, multi-national organisations, foundations, technology providers, telecom operators and schools – collaborating towards agreed, shared goals.

Mobile platform wars

March 2014: The next phase of the mobile ‘platform wars’ will happen in emerging markets and new challengers could emerge. This major new report focuses on the window of opportunity for challenger platforms in emerging markets, the factors that will determine success given the different rules of engagement faced in these regions and the need for external support, and a view on how the market will evolve with connecting the unconnected to the mobile internet the main backdrop.

Unlocking the Potential: Women and Mobile Financial Services in Emerging Markets

February 2014: Produced in partnership with Visa Inc, offers insights on women’s needs for financial management tools and use of mobile financial services in Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania. It also contains implications for action for mobile financial service providers in any emerging market. Report summary

Connected Living comes of age

February 2014: The M2M sector is an increasingly important source of connections growth for mobile operators worldwide. In many markets, operators are looking at M2M as a means to offset slowing growth (or declines) in traditional consumer mobile services.

Spectrum licence renewal in Asia: a long road ahead

February 2014: More than one hundred Asian licenses set to expire over next decade. Licence renewal is a critical step in ensuring continuity of investment, notably in mobile broadband technologies, and in minimising any potential impact in delivery of services to consumers.

China to trigger major shift in global 4G landscape

February 2014: Take-up of 4G-LTE in China will happen twice as fast as the earlier move to 3G, according to new GSMA Intelligence research.

The Mobile Policy Handbook: An Insider’s Guide to the Issues

February, 2014: The GSMA has published the second edition of the Mobile Policy Handbook designed to help support a wide range of activities from academic research to government policy making. It discusses a number of policy topics and mobile industry positions including the business environment, spectrum management and licensing and consumer protection. This new edition also contains an additional chapter for mobile initiatives that highlight some of the GSMA’s programmes that have public policy implications. Further details on each topic are detailed in the handbook through either case studies, facts and figures or best practices.

New Analysis of Turkcell’s Disaster Management System

January 2014: The case study outlines Turkcell’s motivation for developing comprehensive disaster management plans and how they successfully managed their staff and infrastructure, in addition to reducing further disruption and loss of life, in the aftermath of the Van earthquake in 2011.

Turkcell have helped pave the way for other operators around the world to develop similar disaster management plans and this case study can act as a reference to operators in other disaster areas, providing examples of the attention to detail required to become disaster-prepared.

Tailoring Mobile Internet Tariffs for Prepaid Users

December 6, 2013: Mobile broadband connections in the developing world crossed the 1 billion mark in Q3 2013, having overtaken the developed region in the previous quarter. By 2017, there will be 3 billion mobile broadband connections in the developing world, more than twice the amount in the developed world.

Global LTE Network Forecasts and Assumptions, 2013-17

December 2, 2013: There are currently LTE networks in 88 countries, but 80% of LTE connections are concentrated in just three markets: the US, South Korea and Japan. That picture will change dramatically as major Asian markets such as China and India migrate to LTE. By 2017 Asia is expected to account for almost half (47%) of all LTE connections.

mEducation Operator Toolkit Asia

November 14, 2013: The GSMA mEducation Asia toolkit attempts to define mEducation, its benefits and the key trends and market dynamics that are driving its adoption, with a specific focus on Asia. The toolkit also outlines the business opportunities for operators, describes the unique attributes that mobile network operators can bring to education services and highlights case studies that illustrate key success stories to date.

Mobile Money: the Opportunity for India – MMAI & GSMA Submission to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI)

November 14, 2013: The Mobile Money Association of India (MMAI) and the GSMA are submitting this position paper to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low-Income Households to provide evidence of the benefits and the business case for mobile money for MNOs.

Infographic – The Mobile World

November 12, 2013: Asia-Pacific: King of the mobile world, almost half of the planet’s mobile subscribers live in Asia.

White Paper: “Mandatory Registration of Prepaid SIM Card Users

November 1, 2013: This paper provides a global overview of this topic and touches on other areas the GSMA is working on such as mGovernment, mIdentity, Mobile Money and Mobile for Development. It also includes relevant insights, case studies and recommendations that will be helpful to members, governments and regulators in countries considering the implementation of mandatory registration of prepaid SIMs.

The Mobile Economy India 2013

October 23, 2013: Visionary and transparent policy changes are needed for mobile to fulfil its full potential for socio-economic development in India.

Mobile Revenue Trend in the Changing Global Economy

October 1, 2013: In this report, we analyse the factors that have influenced mobile revenue trends, and highlight some of the changes mobile operators in saturated markets are introducing to differentiate their offers and preserve margins.

Global Cellular Market Trends and Insight – Q3 2013

October 1, 2013: Quarterly world review that covers all regions (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and North America) with trend analysis and insight.

Country Overview: Sri Lanka

October 1, 2013: The report has a particular focus on operator attitudes to investing in VAS that aim to improve people’s lives in verticals such as health, education and finance.

ERICSSON – APT700 A truly global LTE band

September 19, 2013: September, 2013 Starting in Asia, Ericsson has led the development and championed widespread acceptance of the APT700 band, creating a global LTE ecosystem opportunity, benefiting consumers and operators.

Research into mobile users privacy attitudes – Key findings from Malaysia and Indonesia

August 1, 2013: Findings from Malaysia and Indonesia in mobile users privacy attitudes.

Mobile Commerce in Retail Paper

July 25, 2013: This paper outlines both a compelling vision of how mobile commerce could transform retailing and the practical steps that mobile operators can take today. Crucially, it explores how operators can work with other operators, retailers, trade associations and policy makers to create the holistic proposition consumers are looking for.

Easypaisa: Mobile Money Innovation in Pakistan

July 5, 2013: Easypaisa, a mobile money service launched in Pakistan in 2009, serves more than five million customers a month through 25,000 points of service. By the end of 2012, it had processed more than 100 million transactions with a throughput of more than US$ 1.4 billion. Easypaisa was identified as a 2012 GSMA Mobile Money Sprinter — one of the 14 most successful mobile money services. Download here…

Dialog Connect: A Case Study

July 3, 2013: This case study examines how Dialog Connect is resolving the identity challenge in the emerging market context. Dialog, part of the Axiata Group, is Sri Lanka’s leading mobile operator by subscriber numbers, and also one of the leading operators in the region in terms of innovation…

The next five years in Asia

June 26, 2013: Latest report from PwC and GSMA. Asia to be the most connected region by 2020.

Asia is witnessing a significant technological shift with the proliferation of connected mobile devices. With the growing affordability of mobile devices and the widespread roll-out of 3G and 4G technologies, it is only natural that a Connected Life enabled by machine-to-machine technologies (M2M) is the next big frontier of growth and innovation…

Global Mobile Revenue Growth Shifts to Asia

June 1, 2013: Asian operators generated $478 billion in revenue in 2012, an increase of 10.4% year-on-year. This means that today Asia contributes 42% of global mobile revenue – equivalent in size to the North American and European mobile markets combined.

KDDI au ID: Placing Identity at the Heart of Mobile Strategy

June 1, 2013: KDDI’s au ID service represents one of the most successful operator-led identity propositions to date. By placing the customer au ID at the centre of the operator’s “3M Strategy”, KDDI has effectively managed to ensure its position as the trusted provider of seamless access to over 500 third party content, coupons, online storage and direct carrier billing integration.

New GSMA animation and infographic highlight the importance of mobile networks in the connected world

May 9, 2013: The efficient rollout of mobile phone network infrastructure is crucial to supporting the continued evolution of connected devices and machines – from smartphones and tablets to connected cars, medical equipment and future innovations.

The Asia Pacific Telecommunity Band Plan — Growing the 700MHz Ecosystem

March 27, 2013: There has been much talk about the Digital Dividend and the move from analogue to digital television, freeing up spectrum for potential mobile broadband services. To accelerate this transition and for countries which still have to adopt the 700MHz band…

Mobile Identity Global Review 2013

March 1, 2013: The GSMA Mobile Identity Global Review 2013 provides a detailed overview of the emerging opportunity for mobile operators in the realm of identity, with examples of services that are already live, and suggestions for how mobile operators can position themselves at the front line of the digital identity arena.

Korea Case Study

January 9, 2013: For contactless mobile services, South Korea is fast becoming a window to the future. The country leads the world in the adoption of a global standard for mobile NFC – a contactless technology that enables people to simply tap their handset against a reader to complete everyday tasks, such as making payments, validating tickets and gaining access to buildings…