The mobile industry’s contribution to Europe’s economy is set to increase over the next five years on the back of increasing mobile operator investment in 4G networks and services, according to a new study by the GSMA. GSMA forecasts that the industry’s contribution to European GDP will increase from EUR500 billion in 2014 to EUR600 billion by 2020, as markets across the region benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the adoption of new mobile technologies, including machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. Ongoing mobile operator investments in 4G network quality and coverage across Europe will see 4G accounting for 60 per cent of the continent’s mobile connections by 2020, according to the report, up from 20 per cent today.
According to GSMA, the mobile industry is leading European digital innovation, notably in areas such as mobile commerce, smart manufacturing, smart homes and smart health. Mobile networks are also providing the platform for the Internet of Things (IoT) opportunity: the number of cellular M2M connections in Europe are forecast to grow from 68 million this year to 182 million by 2020, a 22 per cent CAGR. There is also growing interest in the use of low-power, wide-area (LPWA) solutions, which will play an important role in connecting a range of IoT devices.
However, GSMA notes a key challenge for Europe’s mobile industry which is the ability to scale across a continent that has many different national regulatory and legal environments. The EU’s proposal to create a European Digital Single Market aims to reduce such barriers to innovation and use digital services and networks to drive future economic growth.
Alex Sinclair, Acting Director General and Chief Technology Officer at the GSMA
Europe’s mobile operators have invested heavily in 4G over the past few years despite challenging macroeconomic and regulatory conditions, and we expect investments in 4G deployments, capacity and spectrum to be sustained for the remainder of the decade.
