The GSMA and professional services firm Deloitte LLP have released a report that looks at the economic benefits of mobile telephone services. It notes that an increase in mobile data use has led to an increase in the GDP per capita growth rate, as has a move from 2G to 3G service.

Full details of the announcement are below.

Today the GSMA and Deloitte released the first comprehensive assessment of the incremental benefits of next-generation mobile telephony services, such as 3G technology and mobile data services, and their impact on economic growth. The report 'What Is the Impact of Mobile Telephony on Economic Growth?' provides the first estimates of the impact of mobile data usage on GDP growth in developed and developing markets. The report draws from research of data usage and economic growth across 14 countries provided by Cisco Systems based on their Visual Networking Index (VNI), as well as Deloitte studies on the productivity impact of mobile in 79 countries and the impact of 3G penetration across 96 countries.

"The development of data services have the potential to drive economic development in the same way in which voice services have in previous generations," said Chris Williams, Deloitte telecommunications partner. "This report offers the first serious quantification of this impact and confirms industry expectations that the impact is significant. Policy makers need to consider the implications of this report in their support for the development of mobile data."

Key findings of the report include:

• A doubling of mobile data use leads to an increase of 0.5 percentage points in the GDP per capita growth rate across the 14 countries;
• Countries characterised by a higher level of data usage per 3G connection have seen an increase in their GDP per capita growth of up to 1.4 percentage points;
• A 10 per cent rise from 2G to 3G penetration increases GDP per capita growth by 0.15 percentage points; and
• In developing markets, a 10 per cent expansion in mobile penetration increases productivity by 4.2 percentage points.