LONDON, Aug. 20, 2024 -- India's 5G deployment is expanding rapidly with almost half the population (49%) expected to be using the mobile technology by the end of the decade, according to new figures released by the GSMA ahead of its involvement in October's India Mobile Congress. 

The GSMA's Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2024 report, forecasts that India can lead the world's second wave of 5G deployment, for the economic benefit of industries including manufacturing and fintech, as well as society as a whole. 

India is also one of the seven countries in Asia Pacific leading the way when it comes to the commercial deployment of 5G Stand Alone (SA) networks, providing India's developer community with the opportunity to create new 5G mobile applications. The country now has more than 1.2 billion smartphone connections, making it one of Asia Pacific's top three smartphone markets, with adoption set to rise to 95% by 2030. 

The GSMA, the global mobile industry association, is outlining these new findings during a week-long delegation visit around India, in which it is hosting two industry roundtables in Chennai and Mumbai, and attending a series of governmental meetings in New Delhi ahead of its presence at India Mobile Congress in October. 

The report shows that India will also be one of Asia Pacific's leaders in the licensed cellular Internet of Things (IoT) market, which is set to double in size in the region between 2023 and 2030 with a CAGR of 9%. Industrial IoT will be one of the key topics of the GSMA's Chennai roundtable, which will explore the future of 5G in manufacturing and the vast potential it holds for improving productivity, efficiency and waste production through smart factories and automated guided vehicles in the supply chain. 

Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific at GSMA, said: "India already has the third largest user base of 5G in the world and is on track to become one of the top telecoms superpowers by the end of the decade. The government's ambition to accelerate this digital transformation will help it reach its goal of becoming the world's third largest economy by 2030. The GSMA looks forward to meeting with government and industry this week to explore further initiatives that can drive forward 5G progress and discuss how we can support them ahead of India Mobile Congress." 

Read the full release: here.

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