Mobile Communication Is a Key European Industry, Comparable to Aerospace and Larger than Pharmaceuticals with Total Revenues of \u20ac174 Billion in 2010; By Matching US ICT Investment Levels Europe Could Add \u20ac760 Billion to the Region\u2019s GDP by 2020<\/p>\n
8 December\u00a02011, Brussels:\u00a0The GSMA today released the European edition of its Mobile Observatory series, which provides a snapshot of the latest statistics and market developments, as well as a reference point for interested stakeholders in the mobile industry, including policy makers and regulators. It outlines the state of the industry, including the evolution of competition, innovation in new products, services and technologies and the industry\u2019s contribution to social and economic development in Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mobile industry has transformed the way in which we live, work and play by continuously improving and introducing new services and products and creating a more \u2018connected economy\u2019,\u201d said Anne Bouverot, director general, GSMA.\u00a0 \u201cThe Observatory\u2019s findings show that the mobile industry is a critical business sector in Europe; in just twenty years, the mobile industry has grown to become comparable in size to aerospace and larger than pharmaceuticals, with total revenues amounting to \u20ac174 billion in 2010 and creating an estimated 1.7 million jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mobile is increasing the accessibility of voice and data communication services for Europeans due to lower up-front and recurring monthly costs compared to fixed line communications. The mobile industry also makes a very substantial contribution to the European economy including:<\/p>\n
The industry\u2019s investment in new technologies and infrastructure acts as an economic stimulus, helping regenerate economic growth and promote economic recovery. Investment in future technologies, both from operators and regulatory stakeholders such as the European Union, is vital for future economic growth. By matching US levels of ICT investment (of which mobile is inclusive), European states could add an additional \u20ac760 billion to their collective GDP by 2020, which represents a five per cent increase over forecasts.<\/p>\n
The mobile industry is one of the most capital-intensive industries, with capital expenditures representing 12 per cent of sales on average in 2010. The mobile industry\u2019s investment demand is considerably higher than for other fast-moving, innovation-based industries such as pharmaceuticals, telecoms equipment, semiconductor, software and internet services and adds to the economic health and sustainability of supporting industries.<\/p>\n
From a societal standpoint, mobile is making an important contribution to improving the health and safety of European citizens by increasing emergency service response times, enabling remote mobile health services, and by permitting the development of innovative services to protect vulnerable groups such as children or the elderly.<\/p>\n
Mobile services are ubiquitously available, with a population coverage rate of nearly 100 per cent and a mobile penetration rate of 128 per cent in Europe (versus 100 per cent in Japan and 104 per cent in the United States). This represents 656 million individual subscriptions (measured as active SIM cards) held by an estimated 456 million Europeans (89 per cent of the population), many of whom have more than one subscription. Indeed, mobile services are often the only regular communication for some socio-economic groups and it\u2019s likely that the current youth market will possibly never own a fixed line service.<\/p>\n
Innovative data services have changed the dynamics of the industry and the way consumers use their handsets. This has resulted in a consumer-driven mobile ecosystem with a diverse set of players. Mobile Broadband is forecast to continue growing at over 90 per cent for the next five years. The explosion in mobile data that Europe is witnessing will continue to be driven by investment and innovation from players across the mobile ecosystem.<\/p>\n
The competitive intensity of the industry and availability of a wide selection of pricing tariffs enabling consumer choice is clearly evidenced by steeply declining prices, to an extent rarely witnessed in any other industry. Across the EU27, mobile prices fell by an average of 11-13 per cent per annum between 2006 and 2010.<\/p>\n
Mobile apps are just one of the manifestations of how the mobile device is an increasingly important channel for information, entertainment and transactions. Innovation in the development of mobile-based services will continue to be a key factor in driving mobile data usage. Some of the key service innovation areas of recent years include:<\/p>\n
Despite the current difficult macro-economic environment, the industry remains committed to investing in new technologies and new services. In Europe, future innovation is likely to come from the implementation of new technologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and advanced devices to satisfy future requirements for \u201cbandwidth hungry\u201d mobile services. 20 operators have already launched commercial LTE networks, and widespread deployment of LTE is expected throughout Europe by 2014. Spectrum availability is essential to the success of LTE as a new technology platform. The ability to refarm existing GSM spectrum is an important development that will shape LTE deployment strategies and new service offerings.<\/p>\n
Bouverot concluded, \u201cGiven the right opportunities and environment, the mobile industry is expected to continue investing strongly in new technologies and new services. Support of future technologies, by operators, vendors and regulatory stakeholders such as the European Commission, are vital for future economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report can be downloaded at:\u00a0www.gsmworld.com\/MO<\/a><\/p>\n -ENDS-<\/p>\n The Aerospace market in Europe is estimated at \u20ac147 billion (Source: Aerospace Global Report 2011, IMAP), The Pharmaceutical and Biotech market in Europe is estimated at \u20ac95 billion (Pharmaceuticals & Biotech Industry Global Report \u2014 2011, IMAP).<\/p>\n The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide.\u00a0Spanning more than 220 countries and territories, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world\u2019s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Congress.<\/p>\n For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at\u00a0www.mobileworldlive.com<\/a>\u00a0or the GSMA corporate website at\u00a0http:\/\/www.gsmworld.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the GSMA: Mobile Communication Is a Key European Industry, Comparable to Aerospace and Larger than Pharmaceuticals with Total Revenues of \u20ac174 Billion in 2010; By Matching US ICT Investment Levels Europe Could Add \u20ac760 Billion to the Region\u2019s GDP by 2020 8 December\u00a02011, Brussels:\u00a0The GSMA today released the European edition of its Mobile Observatory series, which provides […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[192,32,37,21,26,25,1133],"algolia_discover_type":[6627],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nNotes to Editors:<\/h3>\n
About the GSMA<\/h3>\n
Media Contact:<\/h3>\n
\nAbigail Faylor: +44 (0)2070 670 851
\nafaylor@webershandwick.com<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0press@gsm.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"