
Study Predicts More Than A Billion 5G Connections By 2025;
GSMA Showcases 5G Future at Mobile World Congress
Barcelona: At Mobile World Congress today, the GSMA published a report outlining the mobile industry's collective vision and expectations for the 5G era. The new study, The 5G Era: Age of Boundless Connectivity and Intelligent Automation', is based on an extensive survey of 750 operator CEOs and other industry stakeholders. The GSMA forecasts that commercial 5G networks will begin to be widely deployed at the start of the next decade and, by 2025, will provide coverage to a third of the world's population. 5G connections are forecast to reach 1.1 billion by 2025, accounting for approximately one in eight mobile connections worldwide by this time.
The 5G era will usher in innovations that enable richer, smarter and more convenient living and working, making possible a huge array of new applications, everything from sensor-driven smart parking to holographic conference calls, said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. 5G is an opportunity to create an agile, purpose-built network tailored to the different needs of citizens and the economy. But it is vital that all stakeholders work together to ensure that 5G is successfully standardised, regulated and brought to market.
The new report sets out five goals for the 5G era, which can only be achieved if the industry is able to unify around a common technology standard and agree a set of harmonised spectrum bands:
Provide boundless connectivity for all: 5G networks will co-exist with 4G networks and alternative network technologies to deliver a high-speed, reliable and secure broadband experience;
Deliver future networks innovatively and with optimal economics: All stakeholders will strive to cost-effectively deliver improved networks, relying on a combination of mainstream and alternative technologies, using both licensed and unlicensed spectrum;
Accelerate the digital transformation of industry verticals: The mobile industry will provide the networks and platforms to drive the digitisation and automation of industrial practices and processes;
Transform the mobile broadband experience: 5G networks will provide an enhanced broadband experience of up to 1 Gbps and below 10 milliseconds latency, and provide the platform for cloud- and artificial intelligence-based services; and
Drive growth in new use cases for massive IoT and critical communications services: 5G networks will support the massive rollout of intelligent IoT nodes for a multitude of scenarios, including critical communications services
The full report is available to download here.
Experience 5G at Mobile World Congress
The GSMA will showcase the 5G future through a range of programmes and demonstrations at Mobile World Congress. The GSMA Network 2020 programme is hosting a seminar on Monday 27 February (13.30 to 15.30) to discuss the business impact of future 5G networks. The seminar will feature speakers from Deutsche Telekom, Jaguar Land Rover, NTT DOCOMO, Samsung and Verizon. For further details, please visit:
https://www.mobileworldcongress.com/start-here/agenda/network-2020-5g-beyond-technology-into-business-impact/.
The GSMA Network 2020 programme is also showcasing the latest 5G research at the GSMA's Innovation City during Mobile World Congress. Experts at King's College London (KCL) are demonstrating their research into managing the latency requirements of different 5G applications, ranging from connected cars to remote telesurgery, and are demonstrating a 5G gaming experience based on Rooplay's cloud gaming platform. In addition, the 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) at the University of Surrey is presenting a 5G vision for the automotive industry, including a collaboration with Telef nica and Jaguar Land Rover to showcase an advanced infotainment system in a Jaguar F-PACE vehicle.
The GSMA Innovation City is located in Hall 4, Stand 4A30 and also features exhibits from AT&T, Cisco Jasper, Huawei, KT Corporation, Sierra Wireless and UNLIMIT by Reliance Communications. For further details, please visit:
https://www.mobileworldcongress.com/exhibition/gsma-innovation-city/.
-ENDS-
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with almost 300 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.
Media Contacts:
For the GSMA
Sophie Waterfield
+44 77 7945 9923
Sophie.Waterfield@webershandwick.com
GSMA Press Office
pressoffice@gsma.com
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
21/02/2026
With Software Defined Broadcasting more established in Milan Cortina look for Los Angeles 2028 to have less hardware and more cloud-based software systems...
21/02/2026
The SVP of Olympic Operations on turning CAD drawings into reality, building tru...
21/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/02/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer of Accused', A Psychological ...
20/02/2026
Gravity Media and Los Angeles-based Green Couch Entertainment announce a strateg...
20/02/2026
IMAX announces it is working with Apple TV to bring the 2026 FIA Formula One Wor...
20/02/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Philadelphia Phillies to design, manufacture, ...
20/02/2026
ESPN announces the upcoming launch of Women's Sports Sundays - a first-of-it...
20/02/2026
As the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots faced off in the NFL's biggest sporting event of the season on Sun., Feb. 8, Sennheiser wireless solutions ...
20/02/2026
ESPN announces its 2026 Major League Baseball spring training schedule, which includes four national games on ESPN, six games on ESPN Unlimited, and more than 2...
20/02/2026
Open Broadcast Systems, which specializes in software-based professional video transport, has added support for 200 Gigabit Ethernet to its range of encoders an...
20/02/2026
Chyron announces the release of PAINT 10.3, which is designed to help analysts and operators turn live action into clearer, faster on-air storytelling.
PAINT 1...
20/02/2026
With full squad workouts underway, MLB Network's live Spring Training game s...
20/02/2026
Tech enhancements, marquee productions are expected to take advantage of a summe...
20/02/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
20/02/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
20/02/2026
Speaking with SVG Europe after one of Team GB's greatest days at a Winter Olympics, BBC Sport's head of major events, Ron Chakraborty, explains the broa...
20/02/2026
Making Winter Games Olympic magic is the goal for every broadcaster in Italy cov...
20/02/2026
Curling, one of the least-dangerous Winter Olympic sports, is dominating the Mil...
20/02/2026
BBC Sport's presence at the 2026 Winter Games is centred around a significan...
20/02/2026
BBC Sport is bringing together its linear TV and streaming digital arms in a str...
20/02/2026
To broaden the appeal of winter sports at Milano Cortina, the BBC has integrated...
20/02/2026
Just in time for the start of Apple TV's inaugural season as the exclusive U...
20/02/2026
One big challenge was to depict the character of each of very different and wide...
20/02/2026
(L-R) Writer-director Amanda Kramer photographs the photographers at the premiere of her film By Design at the Library Center Theatre in Park City. (Photo by ...
20/02/2026
In our latest blog, Tim Pearson explores the impact that increased memory prices are having on the consumer electronics market, and particularly the set-top box...
20/02/2026
Calrec Type R: Shaping the Future of Radio from the Heart of Flirt FM
Love may have filled the airwaves last week for Valentine's Day, and we've just c...
20/02/2026
NEW YORK - February 10, 2026 - An estimated 125.6* million viewers watched Super Bowl LX on Sunday, February 8, according to Nielsen's Big Data Panel meas...
20/02/2026
NEW YORK - February 19, 2026 - Nielsen today shared updated and final Super Bowl...
20/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/02/2026
A leading global investment bank, with offices at Two International Finance Centre in Hong Kong, partnered with systems integrators Global Vision Engineering (G...
20/02/2026
Rise AV and Rise Broadcast, the global not-for-profit organisations dedicated to improving gender diversity across technical industries, have today announced a ...
20/02/2026
Open Broadcast Systems, the leader in software-based professional video transport, has added support for 200 Gigabit Ethernet to its range of encoders and decod...
20/02/2026
Signiant today announced the formation of its Customer Advisory Board (CAB), bringing together a select group of customers to collaborate on product strategy, r...
20/02/2026
PTZOptics today announced the launch of its Visual Reasoning initiative that makes video more actionable by combining robotic PTZ camera systems, AI, and open i...
20/02/2026
Amino, a global media technology provider delivering devices, software and cloud services that simplify and elevate video delivery, today announced the successf...
20/02/2026
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, today announced its call for technical papers for the SMPTE 2026 Media Technology Summit....
20/02/2026
Wowza Media Systems today announced that Granicus, a leading provider of digital engagement solutions for governments, continues to rely on Wowza to power its h...
20/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...