5G Rollout the Central Theme of GSMA's Mobile 360 Eurasia Event

The in-person conference features a visionary agenda and gathers decision-makers from a sector that generates 7% of GDP across the CIS region

14 September 2021, Moscow: Today, GSMA opened its Mobile 360 Eurasia event in Moscow. The event will bring together Eurasia's brightest thinkers to explore the region's most pressing mobile challenges and opportunities, including fintech, value creation, and digital resilience.

At the opening, GSMA revealed that mobile technologies and services contributed $143 billion to economies in the CIS region in 2020. That number is forecast to reach $160 billion by 2025, a 12% increase in the industry's 2020 contribution. The findings, taken from the GSMA's report, The Mobile Economy Russia & CIS 2021', highlight that the growth will be driven by productivity and efficiency gains delivered by the increased adoption of mobile services.

Adding social and economic value in a pandemic

The pandemic underlined the importance of access to fast, reliable internet and a range of digital services for both individuals and businesses. Throughout, the mobile industry kept citizens connected across the region by offering call and data tariff discounts, providing free access to entertainment and healthcare services, and donating to national Covid-19 relief funds. By the end of 2020, the number of unique mobile subscribers in the region had increased to 238 million and 1.3 million connected to mobile for the first time.

The changing face of mobile

The outlook for 5G rollout in the region remains conservative; field trials are ongoing but, deployments are slow. Only Uzbekistan has reached the commercialisation stage thus far. Mobile operators across the region will invest more than $26 billion in their networks in the next five years and, an increasing proportion of this investment will be in 5G. By 2025 the region is forecast to achieve 33 million 5G connections.

Until recently, deploying 4G across the Russia and CIS region has been the industry's main priority. Now with smartphone adoption rapidly increasing, we expect an imminent pivot to 5G in some - more advanced markets, said GSMA Director General Mats Granryd. To accelerate this, we need policies that drive take-up and attract investments in infrastructure.

The shift from 4G to 5G aside, intense price competition across the region also drives mobile operators to diversify their portfolios to generate new income streams beyond core connectivity. These include a range of consumer- and business-focused services such as pay-TV, media and advertising, cloud, security and financial services, along with solutions for vertical industries.

Getting there together

The success of 5G services is heavily reliant on national governments and regulators. The speed, reach, and quality of these services depend on governments and regulators supporting timely access to the right amount and type of affordable spectrum under the right conditions.

For information about Mobile 360 Eurasia, please visit: www.mobile360series.com/eurasia/

Stream keynotes live from the event at: https://www.mobileworldlive.com/mobile360eurasia

Click here to download the full The Mobile Economy Russia & CIS 2021' report and recommendations.

ENDS

About GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with almost 400 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 the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Africa, Los Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Thrive Series of regional conferences. For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

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