Latin America's Mobile Ecosystem Added $280 Billion to Region's Economy Last Year, Fuelled by Surge in Smartphone Adoption, Data Usage and Investment in Network Infrastructure
Buenos Aires: 4G is set to overtake 3G as the prevailing technology in Latin America by the end of 2018, according to a new GSMA report published at the Mobile 360 Series - Latin America event in Buenos Aires this week. The study - The Mobile Economy: Latin America and the Caribbean 2018' - outlines that 4G networks will account for the largest share of the region's connections (38 per cent) by the end of the year, up from just 8 per cent three years earlier.
With 4G also reaching critical mass in terms of coverage (82 per cent of the population), operators will be investing substantially in network upgrades to support accelerating smartphone and data use, setting the path towards the 5G era. 4G is forecast to account for almost two-thirds of total connections by 2025, by which point the first 5G networks in the region will have been deployed in major markets such as Brazil and Mexico, accounting for 8 per cent of total connections in the region.
Consumers across Latin America are now rapidly migrating to 4G services, driven by video consumption and social media usage - and traffic growth is requiring significant network investment to be able to support new and existing digital services, said Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer at the GSMA. We expect mobile operators in the region to invest almost $50 billion (capex) between 2018 and 2020 on network upgrades prior to the move to 5G. However, future success will depend heavily on a flexible policy environment that will encourage continued operator investment in networks, and in turn, deliver the benefits of high-quality mobile connectivity to end users.
Subscriptions Grow, but Policy Incentives Are Still Needed to Bridge the Digital Divide
More than two-thirds of the region's population are now connected to a mobile network. By mid-2018, there were 442 million unique mobile subscribers1 across Latin America and the Caribbean (68 per cent of the population), a figure forecast to grow to 517 million (74 per cent) by 2025. However, there is a wide variation in subscriber penetration levels; a number of countries - such as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay - are approaching full penetration, while others, including Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, still have plenty of headroom for future subscriber growth.
Today around half of the region's population are connected to the mobile internet - this is set to grow to 65 per cent by 2025, but it means there is still to work to do to ensure millions of citizens are digitally included and benefiting from the social and economic opportunities of getting online, added O'Hara. It is therefore vital that the mobile industry is able to work in tandem with governments and other stakeholders to address the barriers to mobile internet adoption, such as excessive tax burdens and fees that negatively impact affordability and access.
A Major Contribution to the Economy
Last year, mobile technologies and services generated 5 per cent of GDP in Latin America, a contribution that amounted to $280 billion of economic value added2. This contribution is forecast to rise to $330 billion (5.2 per cent of GDP) by 2022. The region's mobile ecosystem also supported around 1.6 million jobs in 2017 (directly and indirectly) and made a substantial contribution to the funding of the public sector, with approximately $36 billion raised in 2017 via general taxation and sector specific levies.
Mobile Driving Innovation and Delivering Social Good
Latin America's mobile ecosystem is supporting a wave of innovation across the region, driven by growth in new technologies, services and use cases. For example, mobile operators are making a significant contribution to the Internet of Things (IoT) market; the number of IoT connections in the region is set to triple between 2017 and 2025, reaching 1.3 billion, transforming both the consumer and industrial sectors.
The report cites examples of where mobile-based innovation is having a positive impact, contributing to the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Cordoba, Argentina, Claro built a partnership to develop an IoT solution that connects machines and farm animals with sensors, allowing product traceability. In La Guajira, Colombia, Telefo nica and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are using mobile big data to measure how climate change contributes to the internal displacement and movement of citizens. This initiative, part of the GSMA's Big Data for Social Good (BD4SG) programme, aims to provide governments and organisations with the insights needed to make more informed decisions and targeted policy interventions.
The Mobile Economy: Latin America and the Caribbean 2018' report is authored by GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA. To access the full report and related infographics, please visit: www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/latam.
-ENDS-
Translations
Spanish
Portuguese
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with over 350 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences.
For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA
GSMA Latin America represents the mobile industry in the region. For more information
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
29/04/2024
(L-R) Mark Gatiss and Polly Walker on set
Monday 29 April 2024 Further casting is now confirmed for Bookish (6x70), a brand-new drama created by Emmy Award-wi...
29/04/2024
A groundbreaking initiative offering training and mentoring to 30 women journali...
29/04/2024
Even though we've been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement r...
29/04/2024
L3Harris is delivering manpack radios to U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks as part of the Air-to-Ground Networking Radio program, providing seamless, resilient communica...
29/04/2024
He writes in Defense One: Despite the near-universal acknowledgement throughout the U.S. government and defense industrial base of the criticality of resilient ...
29/04/2024
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/04/2024
Codemill aims to revolutionize media workflow efficiency at this years NAB Show by introducing Just-In-Time (JIT) playback technology in Accurate.Video Validate...
29/04/2024
April 29, 2024
-- TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for New...
29/04/2024
LOS ANGELES Allen Media Group (AMG) has partnered with LG Electronics to bring 223 Local Now FAST channels to LG's free streaming service, LG Channels, avai...
29/04/2024
OTTAWA Ross Video has announced the introduction of Raiden, a data-driven weather graphics software that combines data gathering, processing, and visualization ...
29/04/2024
Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision's end-to-end service offerings for...
29/04/2024
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that it has received a patent on its technology for dynamic autho...
29/04/2024
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that Rally Access Workstation, a fully managed solution for editing in...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, a premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality remote commenta...
29/04/2024
Glookast has chosen Jigsaw24 Media as the only UK channel partner to represent their portfolio of ingest and workflow optimisation products. The agreement, sign...
29/04/2024
Clear-Com played a pivotal role in the seamless coverage of the recent solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Leveraging its cutting-edge Eclipse HX Digital Matrix i...
29/04/2024
PlayBox Neo will promote its complete range of television channel management, graphic branding and playout solutions to EMEA region media content owners and bro...
29/04/2024
Lingo, RuPaul's word-twisting game show, returns for season two on CBS Friday, May 24. Two episodes air that night, and stream on Paramount Plus, too....
29/04/2024
ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are reportedly close to scoring television rights to the National Basketball Association, according to published reports....
29/04/2024
Judge Judy and Hot Bench, CBS Media Ventures' genre-leading court shows, have been renewed through the 2025-26 TV season in more than 95% of the country, Gr...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, an Irish-based premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality re...
29/04/2024
The awards celebrate the craft of behind-the-scenes TV talent and the best programmes of 2023
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 29, 2024
The awards cel...
29/04/2024
The team at Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work for the royal residences featured in the drama from scratch
By Jenny Priestley
Publis...
29/04/2024
CEO Bob Bakish is expected to leave the company as early as today, with a new leadership committee likely to run the company on an interim basis
By Jenny Pries...
29/04/2024
Albena Ivanova, director, media and entertainment and strategic products at CHAOS talks to TVBEurope about her route into the industry
By TVBEurope Staff
Pub...
29/04/2024
The acquisition gives Grand Technix the opportunity to expand its footprint in the audio visual and broadcast technology sectors
By Jenny Priestley
Published...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
29/04/2024
April 29th, 2024 UNINTERRUPTED AND TRIBECA ENTERPRISES PARTNER FOR SECOND-ANNUA...
29/04/2024
Rebrand and refresh: SailGP talks bringing its graphics operations inhouse for a...
29/04/2024
Reflecting on a Storied Career: Sean McManus Looks Back While Keeping an Eye on ...
29/04/2024
Drones Take Flight Inside MSG: How Sky Candy Studios is Upping the Excitement fo...
29/04/2024
Back to All News
Netflix Announces a Diverse Lineup of Polish Titles to Debut i...
29/04/2024
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Fanyana feels embarrassed about his sexual mishapDon't miss Monday, 29 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Sm...
29/04/2024
Talk about commitment. When startup SEA.AI, an NVIDIA Metropolis partner, set out to create a system that would use AI to scan the seas to enhance maritime safe...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
Latin America's Mobile Ecosystem Added $280 Billion to Region's Economy Last Year, Fuelled by Surge in Smartphone Adoption, Data Usage and Investment in Network Infrastructure
