Researchers revealed in the international report that having surpassed 5 billion people connected to mobile services during 2017, the worldwide mobile industry will reach more milestones over the next 8-years. The number of unique mobile subscribers will reach 5.9 billion by 2025, equivalent to 71 percent of the world’s population. Growth will be driven by developing states, mainly China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, also Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. They have mentioned that the speed of growth is slowing though, with most of the developed world approaching saturation.
The more important growth opportunity will lie in mobile internet – a market that will add 1.75 billion new users over the upcoming 8-year, standing a milestone of 5 billion mobile internet users in 2025.
In the report it is also mentioned that mobile internet adoption would increasingly become the key metric by which to measure the reach and value created through the mobile industry, counting its contribution to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also contributes to developments in the wider digital ecosystem, as mobile internet users are the addressable market for e-commerce, Fintech and a range of digitally delivered services and content.
Experts expect that during 2019, 4G would become the leading mobile network technology international by number of connections (greater than 3 billion) another main milestone for the mobile industry, about 10 years since the introduce of early 4G commercial services. Meanwhile, the mobile industry continues to make progress with 5G, counting winning trials across the world and the approval of the non-standalone 5G new radio specifications in December 2017.
Industry experts also mentioned that a number of mobile 5G commercial introduces are predicted over the next 3-year in North America and major markets across Asia and Europe. China, the US and Japan would be the leading states by 5G connections during 2025, while Europe as a whole would continue to make progress with 5G deployments. In total, these four economies would account for greater than 70 percent of the 1.2 billion 5G connections predicted internationally by the end of the forecast period.
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By 2025, two thirds of mobile connections across the globe would operate on high-speed networks, with 4G accounting for 53 percent of total mobile SIMs and 5G at 14 percent. It is also mentioned in the report that to support customer migration and further drive consumer engagement in the digital era, mobile operators would invest $0.5 trillion in mobile capex worldwide between 2018 and 2020.
In Pakistan, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is a state owned enterprise accountable for the establishment, operation and maintenance of telecommunications. According to the statistics compiled by PTA, it reveals that the number of 
total subscribers till June 2018 was 150.2 million, and as per September 2018 it has enlarged to 151.7 million. The enlargement of cellular phone users is largely because of advantage of mobile internet services, as subscribers have migrated from using voice and tax services to data services. However, it is also believed that latest users, are usually from a younger age group and chiefly from urban regions, are more interested in making use of mobile internet for social media and video-broadcasting sites.
Moreover, PTA’s statistics has shared information that Ufone’s total subscribers have stood to 20.9 million till September 2018 as against to 20.3 million subscribers in June this year. It is also said that Ufone has added 0.6 million subscribers during the first quarter. However, Ufone is the only network provider in Pakistan that is providing a 3G-only network in the whole country, as against to the other 3.0 major operators operating 3G and 4G services at the same time.
Also, Jazz’s total subscribers have stood to 56.09 million as of September from 55.4 million in June 2018, Jazz has added 0.525 million new users during this time period. On the other hand, ZONG’s entire subscribers have stood to 31.48 million till September 2018 from 30.89 million in June 2018, which explains that ZONG has added 0.59 million new users during this period. However, Telenor’s total subscribers have stood 43.23 million till September 2018 from 43.56 million in June 2018, explaining that Telenor had lost 0.33 million users during this period. Statistics also revealed that cellular network firms are facing neck to neck competition with each passing month. However, the distinction of service is a main factor for all the operators in order to attract the new customers along with the existing customers retention for the prosperous future.