Theme: Future development of the Internet
With declining costs to purchase devices and lower rates to subscribe to internet plans, the increased penetration of mobile devices in Asia is perhaps the biggest factor driving internet usage here. 64 percent of the Asia Pacific (APAC) residents are already smartphone users, according to GSMA’s latest mobile economy report. And that share is without taking into account Taiwan and China — or any of its territories like Hong Kong, and Macao. Smartphone adoption is expected to surpass 80 percent by 2025 in Asia Pacific, which means billions of internet-capable users in this territory alone. Several APAC nations are leading network readiness in the region, most notably Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Meanwhile, all of the countries which have significantly improved their mobile connectivity in the last six years are all Asian nations, with Vietnam, Iran, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh showing the greatest mobile internet penetration gains, according to a GSMA report.
