The GSMA has released its Mobile Economy Report for 2020. Amid other updates, the report shows that internet subscribers will increase from 25% to 40% by 2025.
Globally, an additional 1.2 billion subscribers will be using mobile internet by 2025. By the same year, 5G penetration will cover only 3% of Sub-Saharan Africa while the 4G network will increase from the current 10% penetration to 27%. The 3G connection will maintain dominancy from 46% to 58%, and 2G will cover 12% of the region. This shows that 3G will still account for a majority of internet connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Globally, 4G will reach 56% by 2025, 5G will reach 20%, 3G will be 18%, while 2G will cover 5% of the penetration. The 5G network is now commercially available from 46 telecom operators in 24 markets worldwide; 39 markets have announced plans to launch.
Also, there will be 610 million global new subscribers by 2025, and nearly two-thirds will be from the Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The person-to-smartphone ratio in Subs-Saharan Africa will nearly double, and four in five connections will be by smartphones by 2025. Subscriber penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase by 5% from 45% recorded in 2018. Similarly, smartphone adoption in the region will also grow from 45% in 2018 to 67%, a 22% y-o-y increase in 7 years.