India is playing an increasingly important role as a global lighthouse for 5G development, said Global System for Mobile Communications Association during the launch of its Mobile Economy APAC 2025 report.
“In the first few years of the 5G era, the benchmarks were really China and the US. But as India continues to rise and expected to be the largest fixed wireless access market in the world in the near future, it is becoming a third pole or lighthouse of what you can do with 5G. The big difference being lower RPM market developing market,” said Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific at GSMA.
Manufacturing powerhouse
He attributed this progress to India’s rise as a manufacturing powerhouse for global supply chains, outside of Singapore, Korea and Japan. This also makes India one the fastest growing economies in the world as digital economies are growing around 3-4 even five times faster than physical economies. Gorman estimated that the Asia Pacfic region may outpace global GDP growth in coming years.
Despite the fixed wireless demand, the GSMA report noted that India faces challenges such as low ARPU and high infrastructure costs, underscoring a need to adapt specific monetisation strategies, particularly those related to pricing and use cases, to fit the unique contexts of individual markets.
Gorman also noted India’s contribution in addressing the scam economy, cyber security threats and the digital divide. He also dsecribed India as the potential third telecom superpower in the world alongside China and America.
Published on July 28, 2025
