Advances in AI Underpin New Mobile Services and Devices in China

According to GSMA's most recent annual report on the state of China's mobile economy, "The evolution of 5G can be viewed in terms of distinct phases. The initial phase was about enhancing fundamental connectivity aspects, including wide area coverage, capacity and solution reliability. With the number of 5G connections in China surpassing 800 million (45% of total connections) at the end of 2023, mobile operators are ready to move to the next phase of the technology's development, with investment in 5G-Advanced. This could enable the industry to focus on new growth opportunities from enhanced 5G capabilities while also delivering economic benefits."

The GSMA notes that China's artificial intelligence (AI) "sector has rapidly advanced since companies gained permission in August 2023 to release their large language models (LLMs) to the general public." The report adds that "Much of the early work on generative AI (genAI) in the mobile industry has focused on using the technology to support internal use cases, such as improved customer care via enhanced chatbots and automated development of marketing collateral." What is more, "Chinese operators have also demonstrated their interest in using genAI for network operations and management. For example, China Telecom is building its own AI-based system to identify the root cause of network faults. Meanwhile, China Mobile has discussed the potential to make AI native to its 6G networks."

Regarding AI's integration into mobile devices, the report asserts: "Smartphones, as the most ubiquitous personal consumer devices, were always going to be a prime focus for genAI commercialization. Recent technology advances in mobile chipsets, cloud computing and breakthroughs in smaller LLMs have made genAI on smartphones possible."

What is more, "The integration of genAI on smartphones will help hyper-personalize the user experience, enhance the OS feature set and evolve native digital assistants. On the app side, genAI is expected to help introduce a plethora of new functionality in mobile apps across verticals, such as text-to-digital content generation. Existing mobile apps should also see advanced AI-enabled improvements in functionality, such as text-analysis apps."

Available in English and Chinese, the report's additional key findings include:

• There are now 1.28 billion unique mobile subscribers in China – a penetration rate of 88%
• Mobile's overall contribution to the Chinese economy in 2023 reached $970 billion, or 5.5% of GDP
• 5G is expected to reach 1.6 billion connections in 2030, representing a third of the world's total, and forecast to contribute $260 billion to China’s GDP
• An additional 290 million people in China now use mobile internet compared to eight years ago (2015), closing the country’s Usage Gap from 43% to just 16%
• Mobile data traffic in China is expected to quadruple by the end of the decade

Infographic: GSMA Intelligence

As for China's mobile industry's impact on the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the GSMA highlights that "the Chinese mobile industry accelerated its impact on the" SDGs with "SDG 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation) and SDG 4 (Quality Education) scored highest in the region, driven by rising mobile internet adoption and use, as well as the growing uptake of IoT solutions."

With respect to 5G driving innovation in water management, "SDG 6 focuses on ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all," the report explains. "Mobile technology improves many aspects of water delivery and sanitation provision. Effective metering and revenue collection are central to a healthy, functioning water utility. At the same time, IoT solutions such as smart water meters are helping utility providers and their customers understand consumption behaviors to drive efficiencies in the energy and water sectors."

What do you think of the report's findings? Is your company developing mobile AI solutions for the China market?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.