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BARCELONA, Spain Global mobile industry revenues will grow from $1.5 trillion dollars in 2011 to $1.9 trillion in 2015, according to new research findings announced by the GSMA. The organization, which represents mobile operators worldwide and runs Mobile World Congress, also predicts significant growth in mobile industry employment; today, more than 8 million people worldwide are employed by companies in the mobile ecosystem, and by the end of 2015, mobile industry jobs will grow to approximately 10 million.
“The mobile communications industry is creating a ‘connected economy’ across the globe, through network investment, job creation and contributions to public funding, said Anne Bouverot, director general of GSMA. Clearly, as the economic indicators show, the mobile industry is a success story, particularly in light of the lingering worldwide economic crisis. Perhaps even more powerful, though, is how mobile is transforming adjacent industries, such as education, health care, payments and transactions, transportation and utilities. Mobile is connecting the world as no other technology has before.”
The report projects mobile connections will rise to 9.1 billion in 2015 from 6.6 billion in 2011, while the number of mobile subscribers will rise to 4.6 billion and the number of broadband connections will more than double to 3.2 billion in 2015 from 1.3 billion in 2011. The industry will add 2 million jobs worldwide by 2015, raising the total number of people employed in the wireless industry to 10 million. Over the next four years, 2012 through 2015, the mobile industry will invest $793 billion in capital and contribute $2.7 trillion to public funding across the globe. Management consultancy A.T. Kearney, GSMA Wireless Intelligence and Machina Research developed the research.
Beyond the global economic impact, the report also noted mobile is a significant factor in the growth of local economies. According to the World Bank, a 10 percent increase in mobile penetration drives a 0.6 percent increase in a developed countrys gross domestic product and a 0.81 percent increase in a developing countrys GDP. In low-to-middle income countries, a 10 percent increase in mobile broadband penetration yields a 1.4 percent increase in GDP.
“As an industry, we will build the Connected Economy while ensuring interoperability of services across operators, networks and countries,” Bouverot said. “We will provide a single point of trusted customer care to users to address any issues related to their devices or services. We will ensure the security of our customers’ services and data. And we will respect and protect our customers privacy. That has always been, and will continue to be, mobile operators’ core promise.”