MA Board Outlines Global Connectivity Priorities with Implications for Africa

The GSMA Board met in New Delhi, India last week to set out priorities for the next era of connectivity. Much has changed since the Board last met in India 10 years ago. India today is a leader in mobile connectivity, with 1.2 billion active connections, 450 million of which are 5G,underpinning India’s growing digital economy. The GSMA Board also had the chance to meet with key government and industry leaders, including the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.

Globally, mobile technologies and services generated $6 trillion in economic value in 2025, equivalent to 6.4% of global GDP, and this contribution is projected to reach $11.3 trillion by 2030. With 5G adoption accelerating across markets, discussions focused on how sustainable market structures can support investment in new technologies and how advanced capabilities, including network slicing, can create value across the wider economy. By 2030, 57% of all mobile connections are expected to run on 5G. Operators are projected to invest $1.2 trillion in capital expenditure between 2025 and 2030 as they expand and upgrade networks. India’s rapid 5G deployment was highlighted as one example of the progress enabled by sustained investment and clear market ambition.

Gopal Vittal, GSMA Chair, said: “By working through global standards and collaborating across markets, we can accelerate innovation, strengthen trust and resilience, and ensure the benefits of connectivity are realised worldwide. India’s rapid 5G adoption and deployment of digital public infrastructure show how scale, talent and ambition can drive inclusive growth and help shape the next era of connectivity.”

Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA, said: “India provides a concrete example of the benefits that come when policy reform enables greater industry investment in mobile infrastructure. In India, and across the world, mobile connectivity is creating new opportunities for businesses, communities and economies. The next priority is to translate the rapid expansion of 5G into meaningful value, while ensuring that more people can access and benefit from the digital economy. This will require sustained investment, enabling policy and collaboration across the wider ecosystem.”

Digital inclusion, trust and resilience

Expanding access to digital technologies was a central theme. Although 97% of the global population lives within mobile broadband coverage, 3.4 billion people still do not use mobile internet. Participants considered how industry, governments and the wider device ecosystem can work together to close this usage gap, particularly as the memory crisis has driven significant cost increases for entry-level smartphones. In low- and middle-income countries, an entry-level internet-enabled handset costs the poorest 20% of people the equivalent of 44% of their average monthly income, rising to 76% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Potential measures discussed included financing, targeted tax reductions and closer collaboration across the full device supply chain, including memory suppliers and device manufacturers.

The Board also addressed the growing global threat of scams. The mobile industry is strengthening network-based detection, intelligence-sharing and tools that help identify and block fraudulent communications, but no single sector can tackle the threat alone. To address this, the GSMA has made making scam prevention a shared industry priority through its United Against Scamsprogramme. It enables mobile network operators, technology partners, regulators, and financial institutions to join forces to counter scams with practical solutions. This is even more urgent, as artificial intelligence and deepfakes create new risks to public trust, economic participation and government objectives.

Supporting global standards and 6G innovation

The meeting considered how markets can contribute their expertise, innovation and intellectual property to the development of 6G. Participants shared a commitment to maintaining global standards and preserving the industry-wide benefits delivered through global alignment since 4G. Harmonisation of spectrum is also critical to scale and affordability. Countries accounting for more than 80% of the world’s population now support mobile use of the upper 6 GHz band, following its identification at WRC-23. The band can enable the 200–400 MHz channel bandwidths expected to be required for mobile evolution in the 6G era.¹

The GSMA stands ready to use its global platforms to support technologies and innovators from across the mobile ecosystem, increase their exposure in international markets and advance collaboration on the next era of connectivity.