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Economic performance
The scale and contribution of the mobile sector
The mobile phone sector is an increasingly important part of the global economy.
A report published in March 2006 by the GSM Association – the global trade association representing more than 690 GSM mobile phone operators – found that:
- By the end of 2005, it was estimated there would be over two billion mobile subscribers worldwide.
- Earnings from the mobile phone sector for 2005 were expected to reach US$573 billion – equivalent to half the global telecommunications services market.
There are now more consumer revenues attributable to ring tones in the UK than to CD singles
According to the centre for economic and business research (cebr), in the UK alone, the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) and government finances is set to more than double over the next 10 years 1. Around 56,000 new jobs will be created by 2013 and productivity will continue to outperform the national average.
The mobile services industry
Employs:
Around 200,000 in the UK alone. 1
Around 4,000 people in Ireland (direct employment).
The UK mobile sector’s share of investment in business communications: 42 per cent in 2004 compared to 27 per cent in 2000.
Contributes:
2.2 per cent of UK GDP (£22 billion in 2003). 1
1.0 per cent of German GDP (£23.4 billion in 2003).
1.2 per cent of Irish GDP (€1.92 bn in 2005).
Generates:
£15.2 billion to UK government finances (2003/04). 1
€23.5 billion in annual sales in Germany (2005).
Total global mobile content market by value:
The annual mobile content market is expected to grow from £868 million in 2005 to £2.5 billion in 2010 in the UK.
“If we are to maintain the mobile industry’s contribution to the economy...it is imperative we have a stable environment of non-obtrusive regulation and balanced public policy decisions in the areas such as building cell sites, digital rights management and e-money.”
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter Erskine
The industry also makes a major contribution to national productivity, by sustaining high levels of productivity within the industry and stimulating higher productivity in the rest of the economy.
In 2004, the UK mobile phone sector, for example, was responsible for an increase of just under 1 per cent of all labour productivity, a financial boost of almost £9.0 billion in the UK’s GDP.
1 Source: An O2-commissioned report produced by the centre for economic and business research (cebr) in 2004
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