The total mobile broadband services revenue in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2% from $229.6 billion in 2024 to $296.2 billion in 2029, mainly driven by the growing availability and adoption of 5G services across several countries, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company
GlobalData’s latest Mobile Broadband Trends in Asia-Pacific – 2024 report reveals that unique mobile user penetration of the population in Asia-Pacific will reach 82.9% in 2029, driven by mobile network coverage expansions, particularly in underserved countries and promotional/discounted plans offered by operators to drive subscriber growth.
In developed Asia, the number of mobile users will increase at a sluggish CAGR of 0.4%, due to saturated nature of these markets. In emerging Asia, on the contrary, the number of mobile users will grow at a faster rate, supported by the growing availability of affordable handsets and local governments’ efforts to improve and extend mobile networks coverage.
Sarwat Zeeshan, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData, says: “With 5G services already available in most of the developed countries like China, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, India, and Korea, and set to be launched soon in emerging markets like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, revenue prospects for the mobile data segment will remain strong throughout the forecast period.”
Government support for 5G expansion will also strengthen the mobile data services market in the region. Telecom regulatory bodies and governing authorities in countries like South Korea, Japan, Australia, China and Taiwan have launched national 5G strategies to drive 5G coverage expansions. Japan targets to increase 5G coverage to 97% of the country’s population by 2025 and 99% by 2030.
Taiwan, Singapore, China, South Korea, and Japan are the key 5G markets in terms of 5G subscriptions as a percentage of total subscriptions. Taiwan will have 94.6% of mobile subscribers on 5G by 2029, thanks to the government’s efforts to promote 5G technology in the country. The Taiwanese government plans to invest TWD49 billion ($1.7 billion) to create 5G development opportunities and help telcos expedite 5G infrastructure development over the 2021-2025 period.
Zeeshan concludes: “APAC has also become the center of a technological race for 5G+ supremacy. South Korea, Japan, and China have gone beyond just the deployment of 5G to the development of the wider 5G ecosystem. China Mobile, for instance, launched the world’s first commercial 5G-A network in Hangzhou in March 2024, and aims to expand the same to over 300 cities across China by end-2024.”
