Across Asia Pacific countries are at very different stages of digital development. Consequently, the policy frameworks for a digital society vary as national governments address their own unique challenges.

For some, 2019 will see 5G become a reality. Many developed markets, such as South Korea, Japan and Australia, are keen to be global leaders in 5G, with much made about the potential of new innovative services and connected devices running on 5G networks. The rest of the region is being more cautious. In many developing countries, 4G will still dominate out to the middle of next decade, accounting for 70% of connections by 2025.

We also see the mobile industry as a whole contribute an extensive amount to economic and social development, generating 5.3% of GDP last year, and is expected to surpass 1.9 trillion US dollars by 2023 as countries increasingly benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the increased take-up of mobile services.