Is 5G the saving grace of Hong Kong’s mobile services market?

Revenue is expected to be driven by 5G adoption, but not by much.

Hong Kong’s mobile services market is stagnant– and not even 5G can change this.

Whilst 5G will help push revenue growth through 2028, the expansion will be marginal, noted data and analytics company GlobalData.

The industry is expected to report a revenue of about $2.9b by 2028, rising from $2.7b in 2023.

This projected growth over the next four years will be due to 5G subscriptions, as telecom operators promote and expand their 5G services throughout Hong Kong and China.

Outside of 5G, mobile voice and messaging services’ revenue is expected to decline, indicating a shifting trend towards data-centric communication and consumption patterns.

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Currently, 4G services account for majority (61%) of the total mobile subscriptions. But 5G adoption is growing and is expected to account for 79% of all subscriptions in 2028. 

“The average monthly mobile data usage is expected to grow significantly from 7GB in 2023 to 23GB in 2028. This surge is largely due to the increasing consumption of online video and social media content on smartphones, which is supported by the operators’ data-centric plans and increasing availability and adoption of 5G services,” said Subba Reddy, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData.

PCCW will lead the postpaid segment by subscriptions, but China Mobile will top the prepaid segment by subscriber share through 2028.