Work still needed to close the connectivity gap

The study, authored by the trade body and GSMA Intelligence, highlighted the figure represented an increase of 2.1 billion since 2015. However, it also pointed to a significant usage gap with 3 billion people living in areas covered by mobile broadband networks but not accessing services.

It noted this underscored the urgency of addressing the primary barriers to mobile internet adoption, namely affordability as well as literacy and digital skills.

Addressing the usage gap was cited as crucial to closing the digital divide, thereby unlocking the benefits of life-enhancing applications beyond communication, including digital finance, health and clean energy.

“The impact of mobile connectivity is evidenced by its contribution to the economy. In 2023, mobile technologies and services generated 5.4 per cent of global GDP, a contribution that amounted to $5.7 trillion of economic value added, and supported around 35 million jobs,” it said.

Overall, a total of 5.6 billion people (69 per cent of the global population) subscribed to a mobile service by the end of 2023, representing an increase of 1.6 billion people since 2015. There were also 1.6 billion 5G connections at the end of last year, which is expected to rise to 5.5 billion by 2030.

However, in emerging 5G markets, the pace of growth in connections and coverage will be slower due to challenges related to device affordability and spectrum availability. “This highlights that 4G still has plenty of room to grow and will remain the dominant technology in many countries for the period to 2030,” the report noted.