Global mobile industry to grow to $1.9 trillion by 2015

The global mobile industry is expected to grow to $1.9 trillion by 2015 from the current $1.5 trillion level. 

Revenues of service providers will continue to contribute a major chunk, with their share growing to $1.1 trillion from $984 billion at present, a research conducted by GSM Association (GSMA) said. 

"The mobile communications industry is creating a connected economy across the globe, through network investment, job creation and contributions to public funding," GSMA Director General Anne Bouverot said in a statement. 

Over the next four years, the mobile industry will invest $793 billion in capital and contribute $2.7 trillion to public funding globally, the research added. 

As per the research, the global subscriber base is estimated to increase to 4.6 billion, while the number of mobile connections would reach 9.1 billion by 2015. 

At present, 3.6 billion mobile subscribers account for 6.6 billion connections globally. 

"Clearly, the mobile industry is success story. Perhaps more powerful, though, is how mobile is transforming adjacent industries, such as education, healthcare, payments and transactions, transportation and utilities. Mobile is connecting the world as no other technology has before," Bouverot added. 

In terms of employment too, the communications industry would continue to be a major component. 

From a workforce of eight million at present, GSMA expects the number to grow to about 10 million globally by 2015. 

The mobile industry is also fuelling the growth of local economies. 

Citing World Bank estimates, GSMA said a 10 per cent increase in mobile penetration drives a 0.6 per cent increase in a developed country's GDP and a 0.81 per cent increase a developing country's GDP. 

In low-to-middle income countries, a 10 per cent increase in mobile broadband penetration yields a 1.4 per cent increase in GDP, GSMA said. 

"As an industry, we will build the connected economy, while ensuring interoperability of services across operators, networks and countries," Bouverot added. 

In a separate study, GSMA said it expects connected devices like mobile phones, tablet PCs and consumer applications to create a business impact worth of $4.5 trillion by 2020. 

Conducted in collaboration with Machina Research, the study projects revenues from sale of connected devices and related services to be worth $2.5 trillion by 2020, of which $1.2 trillion could be addressed by mobile operators.