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 and video were provided by The Associated Press.
[Orange booth at Mobile World Congress 2025]
[T-Mobile booth]
[Samsung S25+ mobile phone]
Mats Granryd (interview): “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.”
[Show floor]
[Amdocs booth]
[Show floor]
[Delegates]
Mats Granryd (interview): “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.”
[China Mobile robot dog moving]
Geoff Blaber (interview): “When we talked about it last year what we were seeing was really sowing the seeds, particularly in the devices, getting the capabilities in there in order to be able to deliver these experiences. We’re most of the way there now, particularly at the high end. I think the challenge now is business models. So agentic AI, this idea of an agent in your phone that will make your life easier, is a huge theme of the show. That’s fine in principle, but it’s actually going to become a challenge of business model and do the big platforms want to open up, and do the smaller applications want to cooperate, and how does the flow of revenue work.”
[Xiaomi SU7 Ultra car rotating on a platform]
[Sign reading (English) “Connected Intelligence” to man presenting video]
[Man presenting, being filmed by another delegate on mobile phone]
Geoff Blaber (interview): “I think when you look around at the show here, when you look behind me, it’s buzzing. There’s a huge amount of optimism. But it also depends on where you sit in the eco system. So in the smartphone space there’s as much competition as we’ve ever had, really intensive at the high end. With the operators, they’re talking about some of the same old challenges of increased regulation, that’s a challenge particularly in the European market. And we can’t ignore the fact that just the global temperature has most definitely changed and there is a high degree of uncertainty around that.”
[People entering the MWC venue]
[MWC sign]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.