Mobile technologies and services generated $6 trillion in economic value in 2025 — 6.4% of global GDP — and the GSMA expects that figure to reach $11.3 trillion by 2030, according to priorities set out by its board after a meeting in New Delhi.

The board's statement, which also covered 6G spectrum policy, AI-driven fraud and device affordability, frames the industry's agenda for the second half of the decade. The numbers behind it are large; the caveats are larger.

What does the coverage gap actually look like?

The GSMA repeated a statistic that has become the industry's most uncomfortable paradox: 97% of the world's population lives within mobile broadband coverage, yet 3.4 billion people still do not use mobile internet. Coverage, in other words, is no longer the binding constraint — cost is.

The association put a precise figure on that barrier. An entry-level internet-capable device costs the equivalent of 44% of average monthly income for the poorest 20% of people in low- and middle-income countries. Framed differently: a household in that segment would need to spend nearly half a month's earnings on the cheapest usable smartphone.

The remedies the GSMA proposes are familiar rather than new:

• device financing schemes;
• targeted tax reductions on handsets;
• closer cooperation between device manufacturers and memory suppliers.

None of these levers sits directly in operators' hands, which may explain why the usage gap has narrowed slowly despite years of similar declarations.

Can the industry fight AI-enabled fraud alone?

On fraud, the GSMA's language sharpened. It warned that while the mobile sector continues to strengthen network detection tools and cyber-defences, "no sector can fight this threat alone."

The association flagged AI-generated content and deepfakes as an escalating risk to consumers, to public trust and to government policy objectives, and called on the industry to "unite to counter scams with concrete solutions."

The statement did not specify what those concrete solutions are, nor who should fund them. That omission matters: cross-industry anti-fraud pledges have a long history of proceeding slower than the fraud itself.

Where does the money go — and does it come back?

The economic-value projections anchor the GSMA's investment case. The $6 trillion generated in 2025 is forecast to nearly double to $11.3 trillion by 2030 — roughly $10.1 trillion in euro terms.

Operators, the association said, are expected to invest $1.2 trillion in capex between 2025 and 2030 — about $200 billion a year — to expand and modernise networks. By the end of the decade, 57% of mobile connections should run on 5G.

That 57% figure deserves scrutiny. It implies a steep acceleration in 5G adoption across markets where mid-band rollout and device prices still lag, including many of the same low- and middle-income countries where an entry-level handset costs 44% of a poor household's monthly income. The GSMA did not break down the forecast by region.

GSMA Director General Vivek Badrinath said the industry's next priority must be turning 5G expansion into "meaningful value" so more people can participate in the digital economy. "This will require sustained investment, supportive policies and collaboration across the entire ecosystem," he insisted.

Sustained investment and supportive policy are, of course, precisely what operators have been asking regulators for since the 5G auction era began. The statement is a restatement of that ask rather than a change in it.

What about 6G and spectrum?

On the next technology generation, the board reaffirmed its support for global standards and harmonised spectrum as 6G development proceeds. It noted that countries representing more than 80% of the world's population back mobile use of the upper 6 GHz band, which could deliver the channel widths of 200 to 400 MHz the GSMA judges necessary for 6G.

The 80% figure is a political signal ahead of the ITU's WRC-27 spectrum negotiations, where the upper 6 GHz band's fate will be decided. Support in principle, however, does not guarantee harmonised assignment; several large markets have already allocated parts of 6 GHz to Wi-Fi.

GSMA Chairman Gopal Vittal argued that "by working through global standards and collaborating from one market to another, we can accelerate innovation and strengthen trust and resilience" as the sector develops the next generation of connectivity.

Trust and resilience are the same qualities the association says AI fraud is eroding — a tension the board statement acknowledges without resolving.

The priorities now move from boardroom to implementation, with the industry's $1.2 trillion capex cycle, WRC-27 spectrum talks and the narrowing of the 3.4 billion-person usage gap as the tests of whether this week's declarations hold.