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.
Like what you read? Share.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
19/11/2025
Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were joined by state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking o...
19/11/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
19/11/2025
Calrec gives Phoenix Broadcast Solutions its full support in strategic multi-year enterprise partnership New Singapore OB company invests in Calrec technology f...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Vitec has acquired Datapath, a developer of real-time video processing for large-scale video walls, AVoIP content distribution and KVM control in mission-critic...
19/11/2025
NEVADA CITY, Calif. Telestream has introduced ARGUS Version 2.3, which introduces Live Look, a feature that lets operators inspect live and on-demand streams vi...
19/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charters stra...
19/11/2025
TOKYO Atomos has announced a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monitor-recor...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
19/11/2025
PlayBox Neo departed the NAB Show New York 2025 on a high note. The company's all-new PlayBox Neo Suite made a splash on the show floor, drawing strong inte...
19/11/2025
AAVBR (American Audio Visual Baton Rouge), a leading full-service event production company serving Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, has enhanced its product...
19/11/2025
In its mission to deliver live event services combining advanced engineering with a creative approach to captivating live sports and entertainment experiences, ...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK Short-form vertical video has exploded across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but a new survey commissioned by Media.net, a provider of c...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK YES Network, the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, and CAMB.AI have struck a partnership they said will leverage ...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has issued detailed guidance on filings that were disrupted by the government shutdown. While many of those fil...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK The popularity of NFL games is largely responsible for continued seasonal momentum in TV viewership into October (measured Sept. 29-Oct. 26), according...
19/11/2025
DirecTV has announced that its MyFree DirecTV streaming service has added seven new channels. Those include four sports services, NBA FAST, Red Bull TV, DAZN Ri...
19/11/2025
SURREY, U.K. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has launched Flair Bridge, a compact device that transforms how operators control the company's motion-contr...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission, which is continuing to rapidly ramp up its operations after the end of the federal government shutdown, has se...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Innato, starring Imanol Arias and Elena Anaya, arrives on Netf...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Guillermo del Toro Sits Down With Troll 2 Director Roar Uthaug...
19/11/2025
Some projects feel monumental from the moment the first phone call comes in. When BCE, the host broadcaster appointed to coordinate the national coverage, asked...
19/11/2025
November 19 2025, 08:00 (PST) BAY AREA HOST COMMITTEE AND DOLBY PARTNER TO DELIVER IMMERSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES
During the Week of Football's Biggest Game...
19/11/2025
Michael D. Higgins: Ireland's Ninth President features RT Archives footage and interviews across seven decades
Watch Wednesday 19 November at 9:35pm on RT...
19/11/2025
Scripps Research scientists receive $1.1 million to advance AI modeling for HIV vaccine development New AI system helps scientists rapidly pinpoint the most pro...
18/11/2025
Independent media across Central America are operating under intensifying financial pressure, yet there is a clear appetite for models that can sustain both ind...
18/11/2025
NBA Debuts New Comms Infrastructure and Systems for RefereesTwo-phase rollout is intended to improve game flow, enhance officiating accuracyBy Dan Daley, Audio ...
18/11/2025
Platinum White Paper: How Aggreko Delivers Certainty For Broadcasters On The Wor...
18/11/2025
Kiswe Extends DTC Products With Kiswe Core Cloud-Based Tool for Distributing Con...
18/11/2025
Spanish Basketball Federation partners with ScorePlay to power digital transform...
18/11/2025
HBS selects BBright encoders and decoders to connect ST 2110 live production wor...
18/11/2025
Ashes to Ashes: Inside TNT Sports' hybrid and maverick' production plan...
18/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Mimi Fotopoulos, Director, Talent and Production Operations, Tenn...
18/11/2025
SVG LIVE! Conference Explores the Tech Side of Sports and Entertainment ConvergenceLive sports and music productions increasingly share gear and infrastructureB...
18/11/2025
LPGA Ups Its Production Game in 2026 With 50% More Cameras, SSMO's & Drones,...
18/11/2025
ESPN's Dunk the Halls Real-Time Animated NBA Game Set to Return for Christma...
18/11/2025
By Jessica Herndon
When Chilean filmmakers Diego C spedes and Giancarlo Nasi ar...
18/11/2025
Earlier this year, we announced the BAPE x SPOTIFY x SYNA by Central Cee (aka Cench) capsule collection, a collaboration that blends sound, style, and street c...
18/11/2025
Our mission to make Spotify the ultimate home for all things audio continues. St...
18/11/2025
SGL Carbon and the renowned Link ping University inaugurated an advanced coating...
18/11/2025
CANBERRA, Australia, Nov. 18, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has launched a new, next-generation software device called NETCASTER - the NETwork Contr...
18/11/2025
Pictured are L3Harris ISR President Jason Lambert and Waleid Al Mesmari, EDGE President-Space & Cyber Technologies, signing with Carlo Igniades, L3Harris Region...
18/11/2025
During October, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 23.7%, a marginal shift of -0.8 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YUMI...
18/11/2025
Broadcast Builds On Lead Over Cable, Driven by Football and Drama Programming Ga...
18/11/2025
CINCINNATI E.W. Scripps has issued a statement responding to news that Sinclair has acquired about 8.2% of the outstanding class A (nonvoting) shares in the com...
18/11/2025
TYSONS, Va. Tegna has announced that its shareholders have voted overwhelmingly to approve the proposed $6.2 billion merger with Nexstar Media Group....
The in-person conference features a visionary agenda and gathers decision-makers from a sector that generates 7% of GDP across the CIS region
