Forecast: Hong Kong mobile service revenue set for growth
September 21, 2022
The overall mobile services revenue in Hong Kong is poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.2 per cent from $2.7 billion in 2021 to $3 billion in 2026, supported by the growth in smartphone subscriptions and mobile data service revenues, forecasts GlobalData, the data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s Hong Kong Mobile Broadband Forecast Model (Q1 2022) reveals that while mobile messaging and voice service revenues will continue to decline, mobile data service revenue will increase at a CAGR of 5.1 per cent during the forecast period, primarily driven by the growing mobile internet subscriptions, and increasing adoption of higher average per user revenue (ARPU)-yielding 5G services.
Aasif Iqbal, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData, commented: “The average monthly mobile data usage is expected to increase significantly from 4.8GB in 2021 to 12.1GB in 2026, driven by the rising consumption of online video and social media content on smartphones, supported by operators’ data-centric packages. Also, projected increase in 5G service adoption will increase mobile data usage over the forecast period.”
5G subscriptions in the country will surpass 4G subscriptions in 2025 and go on to garner 61 per cent share of the total mobile subscriptions in 2026, thanks to 5G network expansions by all major mobile operators including China Mobile, PCCW and 3 Hong Kong.
5G adoption will also be supported by telco’s promotional 5G offers at discounted rates and value- added benefits. SmarTone, for instance, is offering 110GB 5G mobile data, unlimited video call data for Zoom/Teams, free HKD2,000 ($257) handset and accessories voucher for HKD398 ($51.1)/month.
Iqbal concludes: “PCCW led the post-paid services market in terms of subscription share in 2021 and will remain the leading post-paid services provider through to 2026, thanks to its focus on post-paid segment including M2M/IoT. PCCW, for instance, partnered with Hong Kong Institute for Data Science (HKIDS) of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) to develop smart city solutions using data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies in May 2022. The strategic study will concentrate on creating solutions for environmentally friendly urban development, such as smart energy management for industrials, asset health monitoring, predictive maintenance, and traffic flow optimisation.”