Mobile tech industry expected to generate $11 trillion for world economy

Mobile technology is predicted to generate $11 trillion for the global economy by 2030, according to a new report. The analysis was released by the organizers of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the tech show which opened in Barcelona on March 3. It’s the ‘who’s who’ of the mobile technology industry. MWC is billed as the biggest connectivity event in the world. It attracts everything from multinational tech giants to innovative new start-ups. This is a place to do business—and business is growing. Mobile technologies and their services accounted for 5.8% of global GDP last year, according to a new report by the GSMA, which organizes MWC. It predicts that the figure will rise as more people get connected, 5G rolls out and AI increases efficiency and productivity. "It's huge. We're talking $6.5 trillion. And that will grow to roughly $11 trillion by 2030. So, the impact of mobile technology is enormous, and it's enabling so many other industries to make more money and to become more efficient and serve their customers in a better way," says Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. Around 4.7 billion people were using mobile internet by the end of 2024. And 5G connections reached over 2 billion, with the cellular technology expected to overtake 4G usage by 2028. 5G promises to increase speed, reduce latency and allow more flexibility for wireless services. But as the world becomes ever more connected, tech leaders warn that onerous regulations, such as data storage rules in Europe, are hampering the industry’s potential. "We need to have a level playing field, and I've been in this industry for almost 40 years, and we have spoken about this level playing field for at least the last 20 years. It is uneven. And we are fine with competing with other technologies and other industries, but it has to be on the same rules. Today, it is not on the same rules. That needs to change desperately, and that is predominantly a world phenomenon," says Granryd. This article was provided by The Associated Press.