High Speed Mobile Connections Skyrocketing in Asia Pacific

There is very little doubt that mobile technology is only getting more popular, the further we go into the 21st century. What might be a bit surprising to some is just how popular mobile technology is in the Asia Pacific region. A new report by the GSMA Mobile World Congress Shanghai has found that the mobile industry generated more than $1.1 trillion in the Asia Pacific economy in 2014.

More interesting than those numbers is the revelation that Asia Pacific now accounts for more than half of the world’s unique mobile subscribers, as well as mobile connections. Even bigger news for mobile operators in that part of the world is the belief that both subscribers and connections are going to grow faster than that global average in the next five years.

The Asian and African continents are becoming real players in the tech world and doing so at rates that are far outpacing their European and North American brethren. While mobile is the big deal in the Asia Pacific area, Sub-Saharan Africa is going big when it comes to UC tools and software solutions.

In Asia Pacific, the main factor when looking at the number of people who are going with mobile devices is the mind-boggling, fast adoption of 4G networks in that part of the world. Mobile subscribers are set to grow by 600 million over the next five years and migration to 4G networks in places like China and Japan are coming along at much faster rates than we’re seeing in the United States and Europe.

One set of numbers that seems to underline just how fast mobile and 4G connections in particular is moving is that right now, smartphones account for about 40 percent of connections in the region and they are set to exceed two-thirds by 2020. 4G connections make up about nine percent of total connections in the Asia Pacific markets right now, but that number is expected to increase to one-third by 2020. If both those numbers hold true, the growth rate in the area will blow away other parts of the world.