5 Key Takeaways From the GSMA's Mobile Economy 2026 Report

The mobile industry research body GSMA Intelligence has released its latest state-of-the-market analysis, The Mobile Economy 2026.

GSMA Intelligence reports are fixtures of the telecommunications calendar, providing analyses and insights from across the industry on an unprecedented scale. This latest study leverages GSMA Intelligence’s global reach, collating data and trends from hundreds of traditional mobile operators and MVNOs worldwide to establish a clear image of the current mobile market and explore possible future scenarios.

2025 was a major year for the mobile market, with developments in 5G networks, AI, and eSIM adoption. The Mobile Economy 2026 covers nearly every aspect of the wireless sector, from economics to security and environmental impact. Here, we’ve identified five key talking points from the latest report – and what they can tell us about the future of telecommunications.

1. eSIMs continue to grow in popularity

The report estimates that eSIMs will account for 42% of all SIM technologies (including smartphones, wearables, and commercial IoT applications) by 2030. These findings support an earlier study from Counterpoint Research, which predicted that software-based SIM profiles in general (including eSIM, iSIM, and Soft SIM) would account for 70% of all cellular devices in the same timeframe.

While the cost, security, and usability benefits of eSIMs have driven year-on-year growth since their consumer device debut in 2017, last year marked an inflection point in consumer eSIM usage, particularly with the launch of the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. For the first time, Apple released its flagship smartphone as an eSIM-only model worldwide, raising the profile of the technology in new regions and even altering the internal mobile policy of eSIM-resistant markets like mainland China.

As the report states, “eSIM has become standard across mid‑range devices, wearables and an expanding array of connected products”.

2. AI and consumer device innovation are creating new customer experiences

Growing sales of wearable tech like smartwatches and health trackers signal a wider mobile industry trend: the transition from standalone consumer devices to instruments that operate as part of a multi-device user experience. Operators and device manufacturers must now increasingly consider the supporting roles their devices play in an ever-more sophisticated digital customer experience. In the consumer tech industry, “contextual awareness and frictionless interoperability across devices now define competitive advantage”.

Despite a mixed initial reception, device-based AI assistants are expected to become an integral sales feature of new devices – a development that underscores the pace of changing consumer desires and the technological capabilities of in-device AI. As recently as January 2025, Apple was pressured into recalling several features of its onboard AI software, Apple Intelligence, after multiple reports of it incorrectly summarizing messages, news stories, and emails.

Now, according to the GSMA Intelligence report, integrated AI has become a “baseline expectation for premium devices”. Crucially, this extends to several devices per user. AI integration is becoming more common across digital touchpoints, from smartwatches to vehicles. The GSMA report predicts that multi-device ownership will become even more common in the near future: the same eSIM and 5G-based principles that created the current generation of cellular smartwatches are now extending to new formats: smart rings, health trackers, body cameras, and more.

Maybe nowhere else is this shift better illustrated than in the Ray-Ban/Meta “AI glasses” – by 2026, over two million pairs of these camera-equipped smart glasses had been sold. After the quiet demise of Google Glass a decade ago, developments in AI and 5G have enabled the Meta glasses to succeed last year. Now, Google has announced its own return to the smart glasses market in 2026.

Maintaining a low-latency, high-speed data flow across these touchpoints is a considerable challenge. The ongoing rollout of 5G data networks is expected to streamline this process, enabling real-time wireless communications. Just this week, the GSMA announced the launch of “Open Telco”, a framework designed to accelerate the integration of AI services among organizations and develop simpler collaboration paths between operators, AI companies, and academic institutions.

3. Companies must rethink their cybersecurity strategy

As AI continues to embed itself within the mobile landscape, its negative effects are becoming more apparent on the personal, commercial, environmental, and societal levels: one of these is the threat it poses to cybersecurity. AI-powered hacking techniques have contributed to the rising rate of cyberattacks in recent years. The spiralling number of connected devices augments this threat by providing a much-expanded attack surface for potential breaches. Legacy security measures are no longer feasible. As the global demand for wireless connections grows, companies must adopt digital-first cybersecurity measures designed with the cloud in mind. Cloud-native, zero-trust security architecture, incorporating 3GPP-stipulated measures, provides organizations with a dynamic response to threats. As the report identifies, however, most operators are currently without Zero-trust security. This gap is likely to close in the future as Zero-trust systems like 1GLOBAL IoT become increasingly required by regulatory bodies.

The report also highlights the threat AI poses to operators’ customers, as well as the possibility of data breaches via attacks on the operator’s servers. Individuals are now at heightened risk of scams and deception through AI-generated deepfakes. Combating attacks on both fronts will require new security architecture as well as more capable customer support and education systems. Businesses, too, must update their enterprise connectivity and compliance measures to adhere to new regulatory frameworks designed to mitigate the rising likelihood of AI-enabled fraud.

4. Workplace digital transformation will continue

As wireless connectivity evolves into a fundamental requirement for modern business, organizations are adapting their approach to IT infrastructure, no longer viewing it as an outlay, but rather as a key investment into employee satisfaction, operational efficiency, and international competitiveness. Per the report, the increase in digital transformation spending by enterprises is “underscoring a shift in perception from digitalisations as a cost centre to a core driver of long-term value creation”.

For mobile operators, this provides an opportunity for long-term, ongoing customer relationships. Harnessing these opportunities will require future-proof, scalable enterprise connectivity services and the latest core network capabilities, from network slicing to multi-IMSI SIMs.

For other digital brands, it increases the attractiveness of incorporating telecoms services, such as eSIM plans, into their own offering. These white-label mobile services allow any brand with a digital presence to provide its customers with custom-branded mobile connectivity plans, effectively launching an MVNO.

5. Global access to mobile networks is slowly improving

Digitization of organizations and public services is only valuable when users of the service have access to it. To this end, the paper investigates the rate of mobile internet access worldwide. The findings reveal that, while 96% of the global population live within a broadband coverage zone, only 58% own a cellular mobile device. Any digital transformation must carefully consider its user base before removing the availability of offline services.

This “usage gap” is slowly closing: new technologies like eSIM and remote SIM provisioning make it easier to connect users in remote locations. While eSIM has usually been relegated to high-end smartphones, the technology is becoming increasingly common on mid-tier and budget models. In March 2026, Apple released the entry-level iPhone 17e with eSIM connectivity as standard. While the 17e may not be the cheapest phone on the market, the world’s largest hardware manufacturer including eSIMs on its take-down models is a significant step forward.

Improving global wireless access sustainably is another matter – while the report highlights efforts by mobile operators to reduce overall carbon emissions while serving a growing customer base, the prevalence of AI in the mobile industry raises concerns for the future. The precise environmental impact of AI data centres is hard to determine, though agreed to be unsustainable in its current state. Mitigating this damage while delivering global mobile access remains a central challenge to the wireless industry.

GSMA MWC 2026

The Mobile Economy 2026 report is notable for the scale and breadth of its findings: the study assesses trends across a trillion-dollar industry, operating in nearly every country on earth. This is possible through the GSMA’s status as the leading industry body for the mobile and wireless sector.

This week, the Mobile World Congress takes place in Barcelona. This GSMA-organized event is the single largest connectivity event in the world, welcoming over 100,000 industry experts – including 1GLOBAL. We’ll be in attendance throughout the event as official sponsors.

If you’d like the chance to speak to us directly at MWC26, apply for a meeting with the 1GLOBAL team here.