Telecom operators in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are expected to invest $259 billion in networks between 2023 and 2030, with the majority of it being on 5G deployments, says GSMA’s ‘Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2023’ report.
The report stated that 5G is expected to benefit the APAC economy by $133 billion in 2030, or more than 13 per cent of the overall economic impact of mobile, as most of the benefits are expected to materialise by 2030. APAC region is expected to have 1.4 billion 5G connections by 2030, representing 41 per cent of the total mobile connections.
GSMA identified that extended reality (XR) could be one of the growth drivers for 5G adoption with augmented and virtual reality. 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) services are also listed as a driver to monetise 5G with incremental revenue opportunities, especially in areas with low fixed broadband penetration. 5G standalone and private 5G networks will be pivotal to enterprise 5G monetisation.
According to GSMA, there is a need to establish a more flexible and forward-looking regulatory and policy regime to support mobile network deployments and operations.
