Telecom industry association GSMA has revealed the forecast on smartphone penetration, mobile Internet growth and investment in Latin America.

“Local operators are set to invest nearly $70 billion in their networks by the end of the decade to expand 4G coverage across the region, which will allow greater mobile data usage as consumers migrate to next-generation networks,” said Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer at the GSMA.

Latin America had 451 million unique mobile subscribers across Latin America, concentrated in markets such as Brazil (33 percent of total), Mexico, (20 percent), Argentina (9 percent), and Colombia (7 percent).
Telecom operators in Latin America will be adding around 60 million new subscribers by the end of the decade and more than three-quarters of the region’s population will be mobile subscribers, up from 70 percent in 2016.

Smartphones accounted for 59 percent of Latin American connections in the first half of 2017 and are forecast to make up 71 percent of the total by 2020.
4G networks have now reached critical mass in the Latin America region, providing coverage to 70 percent of the population.

Latin American mobile operators had launched 108 4G networks in 45 markets as of June 2017.

4G is on track to account for 42 percent of connections by 2020, bringing it on par with the global average.
The first commercial 5G networks in the region are expected to be switched on in 2020 and are forecast to provide coverage to 50 percent of the population by 2025.

Latin America has nearly 350 million mobile internet subscribers. The Latin American mobile Internet market is larger than the US,

Around 300 million people do not have mobile Internet connections in Latin America.

Latin America’s mobile ecosystem generated 5 percent of GDP last year, according to a new GSMA study. Mobile technologies and services contributed $260 billion in economic value to the region in 2016. Mobile’s contribution to the regional economies has been driven by rapidly rising 4G and smartphone adoption.

Latin America’s mobile ecosystem is expected to contribute $320 billion in economic value in 2020, equivalent to 5.6 percent of GDP, up from 5 percent in 2016. The sector also supported 1.7 million jobs last year, directly and indirectly.