4G helps recovery of Europe's mobile industry

Europe's rapid migration to 4G services and devices helped to stimulate the recovery of the mobile industry, according to a new GSM Association (GSMA) report published during the GSMA Mobile 360-Europe event here on Monday.

The new report, "Mobile Economy: Europe 2014," said the financial outlook of the mobile industry showed signs of improvement in 2014 thanks to the positive impact from 4G deployments and rising mobile data usage, after years of significant revenue declines and falling profitability because of competitive, regulatory and macro-economic pressures.

Moreover, the mobile industry played a central role in supporting economic activity and recovery in Europe, contributing 3.1 percent to Europe's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, equivalent to 433 billion euros (533 U.S. dollars), said the report.

Europe was expected to have 431 million unique mobile subscribers by year end, accounting for 79 percent of the whole population. The number was forecast to rise to 454 million by 2020, an 82 percent penetration rate, said the report.

Currently, the number of mobile connections stood at 688 million excluding M2M, and was forecast to rise to 762 million by 2020, according to the report.

4G was forecast to account for 53 percent of mobile connections in Europe by 2020, up from just 5 percent at the start of 2014 and 10 percent at the start of 2015. This rapid technology migration was promoted by expanding 4G network coverage and the increasing adoption of 4G smart phones, tablets and other data devices, said the report.

The report also called for a new era of partnership between the mobile industry and EU policymakers, aimed at encouraging next-generation network investment and innovation as well as delivering a dynamic digital single market. (1 euro = 1.23 U.S. dollars)