2021年亚太地区数字社会报告（英）-44正式版

DigitalsocietiesinAsiaPacific:

Acceleratingprogressthroughcollaboration

Copyright©2021GSMAssociation

TheGSMArepresentstheinterestsofmobileoperatorsworldwide,unitingmorethan750operatorswithnearly400companiesinthebroadermobileecosystem,includinghandsetanddevicemakers,softwarecompanies,equipmentprovidersandinternetcompanies,aswellasorganisationsinadjacentindustrysectors.TheGSMAalsoproducestheindustry-leadingMWCeventsheldannuallyinBarcelona,LosAngelesandShanghai,aswellastheMobile360Seriesofregionalconferences.

Formoreinformation,pleasevisittheGSMAcorporatewebsiteat

FollowtheGSMAonTwitter:

@GSMA

October2021

Author

KenechiOkeleke,Director,SocialandRegionalResearch

JamesJoiner,SeniorAnalyst

Contributors

JeanetteWhyte,HeadofPublicPolicy,AsiaPacificChristiaanSegura,Director,PublicPolicy,AsiaPacific

GSMAIntelligenceisthedefinitivesourceofglobalmobileoperatordata,analysisandforecasts,andpublisherofauthoritativeindustryreportsandresearch.Ourdatacoverseveryoperatorgroup,networkandMVNOineverycountryworldwide

–fromAfghanistantoZimbabwe.Itisthemostaccurateandcompletesetofindustrymetricsavailable,comprisingtensofmillionsofindividualdatapoints,updateddaily.

GSMAIntelligenceisreliedonbyleadingoperators,vendors,regulators,financialinstitutionsandthird-partyindustryplayers,tosupportstrategicdecisionmakingandlong-terminvestmentplanning.Thedataisusedasanindustryreferencepointandisfrequentlycitedbythemediaandbytheindustryitself.

Ourteamofanalystsandexpertsproduceregularthought-leadingresearchreportsacrossarangeofindustrytopics.

info@

Contents

Preface

2

Executivesummary

4

1

AsharpenedfocusondigitalsocietiesinAsiaPacific

6

2

AsiaPacificadvancesonthedigitalsocietiespath

10

2.1

Connectivity

13

2.2

Digitalidentity

14

2.3

Digitalcitizenship

15

2.4

Digitallifestyle

16

2.5

Digitalcommerce

18

3

Acceleratingprogressonthepathtodigitalsocieties

20

3.1

Refiningthecomponentsofadigitalsociety–

theroleofcollaboration

22

3.2

Casestudies:collaborativeinitiativestoadvancedigital

societiesinAsiaPacific

25

Buildingcollaborativepartnershipstoadvancedigital

societiesinAsiaPacific

30

Appendix:Indexmethodology

34

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

Preface

ThisreportistheGSMA’ssixthannualDigitalSocietiesreportforAsiaPacific,whichfocusesonthekeyaspectsofadigitalsociety.The2020editionhighlightedtheconceptofawhole-of-governmentapproach(WGA),whichallowsgovernmentstomoreefficientlyaddressroadblocksandissueswithacross-ministryapproachandcollaborationwithindustry.Thisyear,thefocusisonhowcountriesinAsiaPacificareacceleratingprogressontheirdigitalsocietyambitionsthroughcollaborationandWGA-basedimplementationofdigitaltransformationstrategies.

2 Preface

EacheditionofthereporthasevaluatedhowthetargetcountriesinAsiaPacifichaveprogressedontheirpathstofull-fledgeddigitalsocieties,asmeasuredagainstfivekeycriteriaintheGSMAIntelligencedigitalsocietyindex:connectivity,digitalidentity,digitalcitizenship,digitallifestyleanddigitalcommerce.Thereisnodenyingthedigitaltransformationprogressthathasbeenmadeinthese11countries(Australia,Bangladesh,India,Indonesia,Japan,Malaysia,Pakistan,Singapore,SouthKorea,ThailandandVietnam),andacrosstherestofAsiaPacificaswell.Theadvancednationscontinuetobeamongtheleadersinnetworktechnology,whileothernationsaretakingproactivestepsbyadoptingenablingpolicyframeworksthatsettheproperfoundationtolaunchinnovations.Tobetterreflecta

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

country’sjourneytowardsafull-fledgeddigitalsociety,thisyear’sreportincludesanupdatetotheunderlyingmetricsintheindex.

DigitaltechnologieswillplayanincreasinglycentralroleinAsiaPacificasgovernmentslooktoenhanceproductivityanddriveinclusivesocioeconomicdevelopment.Atthesametime,theFourthIndustrialRevolution(alsoknownasIndustry4.0)isbecomingarealityandwillbecrucialforpost-pandemiceconomicrecoveryincountriesacrosstheregionandbeyond.Assuch,acoordinatedapproachtodevelopandimplementdigitaltransformationinitiativesacrossthepublicsector,complementedbyprivatesectorinvestmentandinnovation,isessentialtomaximisethepotentialofdigitaltechnologies.

Preface 3

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

Executive

summary

ThesixtheditionoftheGSMADigitalSocietiesinAsiaPacific1reportseriescoincideswithasignificantupswingintheadoptionandusageofdigitaltechnologies,driveninpartbytheresponsetotheCovid-19pandemic.Amidthedisruptiveimpactofthepandemiconlivesandlivelihoods,therehasbeenarenewedfocusondigitaltransformationacrosssocietyasgovernments,businessesandpeoplemovedfromin-personinteractionstoonlineanddigital-firstplatforms.Theshiftinconsumerbehaviourtowardsgreateracceptanceandusageofdigitalserviceshasbeenavitalfactorinthiswaveofdigitaladoption,andwillbecrucialtosustainingthistrendinthelongterm.

1 InthisreportwedefineAsiaPacificasexcludingGreaterChina,unlessspecifiedotherwise.

4 Executivesummary

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

Astheworldadjuststoanewnormalcentredaroundinternetconnectivityanddigitalservices,theneedtoaccelerateprogresstofull-fledged,inclusivedigitalsocietieshasbecomemoreimportantthanever.Inthelastyear,governmentsacrossAsiaPacifichaveimplementedmeasurestoimproveaccesstoanddriveusageofdigitaltechnologiesinsociety;theyhavealsoinitiatedwide-reachingdigitaltransformationplanswithinthepublicsectortoimproveservicedelivery.Aseconomicactivitiesbegintopickupagain,digitaltechnologieswillbecentraltoeffortstoensuremoreresilientandinclusivegrowth.Enhancedconnectivityanddigitaltechnologiesarealreadyenablingnewoperatingmodelsaswellasopeningupaccesstonewmarketsandsupplychainsforbusinesses.

ThelatestupdatetotheGSMAIntelligencedigitalsocietyindexusesthesameanalyticalframeworkasinpreviousyears.However,somechangeshavebeenmadeinitsimplementationtoimprovetherobustnessoftheanalysisandreflecttheemergingtrendsanddevelopmentsthatwillshapethedigitallandscapeinthecomingyears.Meanwhile,5GisexpandingacrossAsiaPacific–14countriesintheregionwillhavelive5Gservicesbytheendof2021–bringingnewopportunitiesandcapabilitiesforthedigitalsocietyandIndustry4.0initiativesintheregion.Butthereisneedformoretobedone.Forexample,largeswathesofthepopulationinsomecountriesstilldonotusetheinternet,puttingthematriskofmissingoutontheemergingdigitaleconomy.Evenintheadvanceddigitalsocietiesintheregion,thepandemichasexposedthelimitationsandfaultlinesinmanyservices.

Collaborativeeffortscanaccelerateprogresstowardsbecomingfull-fledgedandinclusivedigitalsocieties.InthecontextofaWGA,orevenawhole-of-societyapproach,collaborationhasthepotentialtobringtogethergovernments,theprivatesectorandothernon-stateinstitutionstoaddressacommonissue.Collaborationisparticularlycriticalinanenvironmentofrapidinnovationandecosystem-orientedbusinesses;today,digitalservicespermeatevirtuallyallindustryverticalsandcanbeimpactedbypoliciesandactivitiesinmultiplesectorsoftheeconomy.Therearenumerousbenefitsfromcollaborationtogovernments,thewiderICTindustryandsociety,notablytheassuranceofinteroperabilityofdigitalservicesandplatforms,avoidingfragmentationandduplicationofefforts,andensuringinclusivityinthedevelopmentofdigitalsolutions.

Encouragingly,theexpectationforgreatercollaborationwithinthedigitalecosystemiswidelysharedamongkeystakeholders.Thisbodeswellforfutureeffortstobuildnewpartnershipsandexpandexistingones.Inthisreport,wehighlightfivekeyfactorsandconsiderationsinestablishingeffectivecollaborativepartnershipsacrossthepublicandprivatesectorstoadvancethedigitalsociety:

governmentleadership

clarityonsharedonsharedpurposeandobjective

clear,measurableandmutuallybeneficialbenefits

lowentrybarriersfornewpartners

diverseviewpointstoimproveoutcomesanddecision-making.

Executivesummary 5

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

AsharpenedfocusondigitalsocietiesinAsiaPacific

AcrossAsiaPacific,digitaltechnologiesarebeingharnessedtosupportthepublichealthresponsetothepandemicandtoenablemanysocialandeconomicactivitiestocontinuesafely,includingwork,education,shoppingandhealthcare.Forinstance,SouthKorea’sCovid-19smartmanagementsystemreliesondigitaltechnologies,suchasmobileconnectivityandIoT,2tohelpcontrolthespreadofthevirus.InSingapore,therewasa20%riseinbusinessesundergoingdigitaltransformationduringthepandemic,comparedtothepreviousyear,withmanynewbusinessessigninguptoe-commerceplatformswiththesupportofgovernment-ledprogrammes.3

COVID-19SmartManagementSystem(SMS)inKorea,MLIT,KAIA,2020

“Morebusinessestakingthedigitalplunge”,TheStraitsTimes,June2020

6 AsharpenedfocusondigitalsocietiesinAsiaPacific

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

Againstthisbackdrop,accesstofast,reliableandcontinuousconnectivityhasbecomeavitallifelineforpeopletoparticipateeffectivelyinsociety.Nearly130millionpeopleacrossAsiaPacificsubscribedto

mobileinternetservicesforthefirsttimeduring2020and2021,takingthetotalnumberofinternetusersintheregiontomorethan1.2billion.4

Figure1

MobileinternetistheprimarywayforpeopletoaccessdigitalservicesinAsiaPacific

NumberofmobileinternetsubscribersinAsiaPacific(million)

1,233

1,164

1,095

1,006

896

788

702

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source:GSMAIntelligence

Inadditiontoconnectivity,newserviceshaveemergedfromthepublicandprivatesectorstoservethelifestyleneedsofpeopleandnewoperatingmodelsofbusinesses,inmanycasesnecessitatedbythepandemic.Existingservicesandplatformshavealsoseenasharpriseinadoptionandusage,withdigitalpaymentsservicesseeingsomeof

thebiggestincreasesduetochangingconsumersentimentstowardsdigitaltransactions.AccordingtoBankIndonesia,thevalueofe-moneytransactionsinIndonesiagrewby39%in2020toIDR201trillion

($14billion)andisprojectedtogrowbyanother32%in2021toIDR265trillion.5Similarly,theBankofThailandhasdisclosedthattheaveragenumberofdailydigitaltransactionsmorethandoubledto22.3millioninFebruary2021,comparedtoayearearlier.6

Theshiftinconsumerbehaviourtowardsgreateracceptanceandusageofdigitalserviceshasbeenadefiningfactorintheincreaseofdigitaladoption.Manynewdigitalconsumerswhohavegonethroughtheinitialstepsofdigitaladoption,suchaslearninghowtosetupaccountsandmakedigitalpayments,arenowexperiencinghowtechnologiescanreshapetheirlivesandcontributetobetterexperienceswiththesocietyaroundthem.Thiswillbecrucialtothecontinueduseoftheseservicesandthesustainedexpansionofthedigitaleconomy.

TheTheMobileMobileEconomyEconomyAsiaAsiaPacificPacific20212021

,GSMA,2021

“Indonesiae-wallettransactiontoreach$18.5billionin2021amidfiercecompetition”,TheAsianBanker,April2021

“ThaidigitalpaymentsdoubleinFebasoutbreakspursonlineactivity”,Reuters,May2021

AsharpenedfocusondigitalsocietiesinAsiaPacific 7

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

Figure2

OnaverageacrossSoutheastAsia,aroundathirdofalldigitalserviceconsumersarenewtotheserviceduetoCovid-197

Percentageofnewdigitalconsumersoutoftotalserviceconsumers

41

37

37

36

36

30

30

Indonesia

Malaysia

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

SoutheastAsia

average

Source:Bain8

Theimpactofthepandemiconbothdemand(consumers’behaviouralchanges)andsupply(increasinginvestmentinconnectivityandinnovativedigitalservices)stronglypointstowardsfasterdigitaltransformationinthecomingyears.Consequently,governmentsacrossAsiaPacifichavesteppedupeffortsandareimplementinganumberofmeasurestoincreaseaccesstoconnectivityandtheusageofdigitalservicesacrosssociety:

Japanhasestablishedadigitalagencyunderthedirectsupervisionoftheprimeministertostreamlinetheuseofdigitaltechnologiesacrossgovernmentministries.9Theagencyaimstodigitiseadministrativeproceduresin31areasandstandardisethedifferentsystemsusedbymunicipalitieswithinfiveyears.Thisisexpectedtohelpaddresstheheavyrelianceonlegacy(andsometimesmanual)systemsandthesiloedactivitiesofmanygovernmentministriesandagenciesthatconstrainedtheoverallresponsetotheCovid-19pandemic.

TheVietnamesegovernmentisprioritisinge-governmentasacentralpillarofitsambitiousnationaldigitaltransformationstrategytoincreasedigitalinfrastructure,solutionsandcapacity,andtoemergefromthepandemicwithallbranchesofgovernmentrunninginadigitaltechnologyenvironment.10From2021,ministriesandprovinceswillberankedtomeasuretheextenttowhichnationalandlocalauthoritieshavedevelopedonlineactivitiesinallareasofsocietyandtheeconomy,withtargetssuchashaving80%ofpublicservicesaccessibleonline,includingthroughmobiledevices,by2025.

Newdigitalservicesusersaredefinedasconsumerswhowerenotalreadypurchasing,signingupfororsubscribingtodigitalservices,butdidsoasaresultoflockdowns.

e-ConomySEA2020,Bain,2020

"COVID-19andJapan’slong-awaiteddigitaltransformation”,EastAsiaForum,September2021

“Vietnam’sDigitalTransformationPlanThrough2025”,VietnamBriefing,September2021

8 AsharpenedfocusondigitalsocietiesinAsiaPacific

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

InMalaysia,thegovernmentisimplementingtheJalinanDigitalNegara(Jendela)initiative,whichaimstoexpandthereachoftheinternettoeverycornerofthecountry,aspartofthe12thMalaysiaPlan(2021–2025).11Phase1,whichincludestheexpansionof4Gnetworkcoveragefrom91.8%ofthepopulationto96.9%andthesunsettingof3Gnetworks,runsfrom2020until2022;Phase2,whichinvolvesusingvarioustechnologiestoachieveMalaysia’sdigitalambitions,willstartfrom2022onwards.

SouthKorea’sDigitalNewDeal,12partofthegovernment’sKRW220trillion($191billion)five-yearKoreanNewDealstimuluspackage,focusesonpreparingthecountryfor“surgingdemandforremoteservicesandtopavethewaytoadigitaleconomy”.SomeofthemajorprojectsundertheDigitalNewDealincludecreatingindustrialconvergencewithdata,networkandAIacrosstheeconomy,promoting‘untact’13industries,andmakingcitiesandindustrialcomplexesdigital.

InFebruary2021,theIndonesiagovernmentannouncedplanstoextend4Gtechnologytothe3T(front,outermost,disadvantaged)areasofthe

country,throughtheMinistryofCommunicationandInformationTechnology(Kominfo)andtheIndonesianInformationandAccessibilityAgency(BAKTI).InSeptember,thegovernmentrevealedthatmobileoperatorsXLAxiataandTelkomselhadwonthetendertodeploy7,9044Gbasestationsbytheendof2022.14

Itisestimatedthatby2025,over333millionpeopleacrosstheregionwillstartusingmobileinternetforthefirsttime.15Indeed,aspeoplebecomemorewillingtointensifytheirdigitalinteractionsanddigitaltechnologiesplayanincreasinglycentralroleineffortstorestarteconomicactivitiesandimplementnewservicedeliverymodels,themomentumforadoptionandusageofdigitalserviceswillcontinuetogrow.ForgovernmentsinAsiaPacific,thisrepresentsanimportantopportunitytoharnessthepowerofdigitaltechnologiestoensureinclusivedevelopmentandbuildmoreresilienteconomies.Inpracticethisentailsmakingprogressonthecomponentsofadigitalsocietybyreducingexistinggapsandinequalities,andprovidingtherightenvironmenttofosterinnovationanddriveinvestmentindigitalservices.

“MalaysiatoseegreaterdigitalconnectivitythroughJendela”,MIDA,December2020

“GovernmentAnnouncesOverviewofKoreanNewDeal”,MinistryofEconomyandFinance,July2020;“MoonsaysKoreanNewDealinvestmenttobeexpandedtoW220tr”,TheKoreaHerald,July2021

Atermusedtodescribeservicesthatminimisedirecthumaninteractions.

“SatelitSatriaDitargetkanMeluncur2023”,Kominfo,September2020;“XLAxiataAndTelkomselWillHold4GServicesAt7,904BTS,ThisIsTheCoverageArea!”,VOI,September2021

TheTheMobileMobileEconomyEconomyAsiaAsiaPacificPacific20212021

,GSMA,2021

AsharpenedfocusondigitalsocietiesinAsiaPacific 9

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

AsiaPacificadvancesonthedigitalsocietiespath

GSMAIntelligence’sdigitalsocietyindexusesfivemaincomponents

–connectivity,digitalidentity,digitalcitizenship,digitallifestyleanddigitalcommerce–tomeasuretheprogressofacountryalongitspathtobecomingafull-fledgeddigitalsociety.16Basedontheaggregatescores,countriesaregroupedintothreecategories:emerging,transitionandadvanceddigitalsocieties.

16 AmoredetaileddescriptionofthemethodologyisprovidedintheAppendix,includinganupdateonchangestothisyear’sindexversuspreviousiterations.

10 AsiaPacificadvancesonthedigitalsocietiespath

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

Figure3

Thecomponentsofadigitalsociety

DIGITALCITIZENSHIP

Digitalcitizenshipinteractionbetweengovernment,businessesandcitizensspecificallyintheprovisionanduseofpublicservicesoverdigitalchannels.

Theuseoftechnologyfortwo-wayinteractionsbetweengovernmentsandcitizens,withthepotentialtoincreaseaccountability,informationsharingandmutualtrust.

DIGITALLIFESTYLE

Useofsmartdevicestoaccesslocallyrelevantcontentandnon-corecommunicationsolutionsthatoeramoreconvenientexperience.

Thepandemichasacceleratedtheusedigitaltechnologiesineverydayactivities,includingwork,socialinteractions,learning,shopping,healthcareandentertainment.Thedigital-firstapproachtomanyoftheseactivitieswillbeadefiningfeatureoffuturedigitalsocieties.

DIGITALCOMMERCE

Simplifyingacommerce

activitybyexpanding

accesstomarketplaces,

replacingphysicalcash,and

facilitatingtheprocessing

anddeliveryofordersover

digitalchannels.

Underpinnedbydigital

payments,digitalcommerce

willbecomemoreprevalent

infuturedigitalsocietiesas

businessreshapetheir

operatingmodelstotake

advantageofthereachand

resilienceoeredbyonline

transactions. WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT

APPROACH(WGA)

WGAbringstogether

multiplestakeholdersand

DIGITALIDENTITY

diverseresourcestoprovide

acommonsolutiontoa

Proofofidentityisaprerequisiteto

Asmoretransactionsmoveonlinewithlittle

particularissue.

socioeconomicdevelopmentandessential

ornophysicalinteraction,theabilityto

toaccessingbasicservices;mobile

proveone’sidentityinadigitalformwillbe

technologyisuniquelypositionedtoenable

essentialtoeconomic,financialandsocial

accessibleandinclusivedigitalidentity.

inclusion.

CONNECTIVITY

Fast,reliableandcontinuousindividualaccesstotheinternetisthefoundationforthecreation,distributionandconsumptionofdigitalapplicationsandservices.

Source:GSMAIntelligence

Themorepeoplethereareinasocietywhocanaccessfast,reliableandaordableinternetservicesonaregularbasis,themorelikelyitisforgovernmentsandbusinessestoengagewiththemanddeliverservicesoverdigitalchannels.

Digitalplatformsareanincreasinglyprominentfeatureofdigitalsocieties.Theseinternet-enabled,multi-sidedservicescatertobothprovidersandusers(e.g.consumers,vendorsandgovernments).Platform-basedmodelshavedisruptedtraditional

businessmodelsandlinearvaluechainsacrossmanysectorsbyenablinginteractionsbetweentwoormoreinterdependentgroups,helpingtoeliminateinefficienciesandextendthereachofservicestoagreaternumberofcustomers.

AsiaPacificadvancesonthedigitalsocietiespath 11

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

Changestothedigitalsocietiesindex

Thisyear’sreportusesthesameanalyticalframeworkasinpreviousyears.However,somechangeshavebeenmadeinitsimplementationtoimprovetherobustnessoftheanalysisandreflecttheemergingtrendsanddevelopmentsthatwillshapethedigitallandscapeinthecomingyears.Consequently,thescorespresentedinthisreportarenotdirectlycomparablewithpreviousiterationsofthedigitalsocietyindex.

Newindicatorsinsomeofthecomponentsincludethefollowing:

Connectivity:Indicatorsmeasuringtheshareofpopulationinthecountrycoveredby5Gnetworksandthespectrumassignmentsinbandsabove3GHz,whichwillbeimportantintherolloutof5G.

Digitalidentity:Indicatoranalysingtheuseofbiometricdatafordigitalauthentication.

Digitallifestyle:Indicatorsanalysingthecostofentry-levelinternet-enabledhandsets,thegendergapratioformobilephoneownershipandtheuseoftheinternetforentertainmentpurposes.

Digitalcommerce:Indicatorsanalysingtheperformanceofnationallogisticsnetworksandlegislationontheacceptanceofdigitalsignatures.

Severalindicatorshavealsobeenremovedfromtheindex,basedontheevolutionofdigitalservices:

Connectivity:Indicatormeasuringthenumberofyearssince3Gnetworkslaunched.

Digitallifestyle:Indicatormeasuringtheindexscoreforonlineservicesandanindicatoranalysingthenumberofgenerictop-levelwebsitedomainspercapita.

Digitalcommerce:IndicatorsonthenumberofcommercialbankbranchesandATMspercapita.

Foramoredetailedviewofthemethodology,pleaseseetheAppendix.

Figure4

Digitalsociety:2020countryindexscoresinAsiaPacific

82 82 84

74

67

58

61

54

56

39 42

PakistanBangladeshIndiaIndonesiaVietnamThailandMalaysiaJapanAustraliaSingaporeSouthKorea

EMERGING TRANSITION ADVANCED

Source:GSMAIntelligence

12 AsiaPacificadvancesonthedigitalsocietiespath

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

2.1 Connectivity

Connectivityisthebedrockuponwhichafull-fledgeddigitalsocietyisbuilt.Singaporeisthehighest-scoringcountryontheconnectivitypillar.Since2013,thecity-statehasrecorded100%populationcoverageforboth3Gand4Gnetworks,while5Gpopulationcoveragereached71%attheendof2020.Therolloutof5Gnetworks,alongwithupgradestoexisting4Ginfrastructure,ishavinganotableimpactonnetworkperformance.Forexample,averagedownloadspeedsinSingaporeincreasedby15%in2020,reaching60Mbps.SingaporeisoneoffourcountriesinAsiaPacific

(theothersbeingAustralia,SouthKoreaandThailand)withacommercial5Gstandalone(SA)network.

Other5GleadersinAsiaPacifichavealsoadvancedtheirrolloutsofthelatestnetworkgeneration.Forexample,5GpopulationcoverageinSouthKoreareached98%attheendof2020.Thishassupportedtheadoptionof5Gservices,with5Gnowaccountingformorethanaquarteroftotalmobileconnectionsinthecountry(higherthananywhereelseintheworld).

Figure5

Connectivity:2020countryindexscores

82 84

77 77

67

61 62

57

52

54

46

PakistanBangladeshIndia

IndonesiaVietnamMalaysiaThailandJapan

South

AustraliaSingapore

Korea

EMERGING

TRANSITION

ADVANCED

Source:GSMAIntelligence

Accesstospectrumisakeyelementoftheconnectivityscore.Assuch,countrieswithahigherconnectivityscoretendtohavebetteravailabilityofspectrum.Asisthecaseglobally,most5GlaunchesinAsiaPacifichavesofarreliedonmid-bandspectrum.However,theregionalsoleadsincommitmentsandcommercialdeploymentsof5GmmWavebands(24GHzandabove).17ThisiscontributingtotheimprovementinconnectivityscoresincountriessuchasJapan,whichisthefirstnationwherealloperatorshavedeployedcommercial5GservicesusingmmWavespectrum.

Asecondwaveof5GrolloutsisalreadyunderwayinAsiaPacific.Indonesiasawthelaunchofcommercial5Gservicesinthemiddleof2021,andseveralothercountries,includingIndia,MalaysiaandVietnam,aresoontofollow.Malaysia,inparticular,ismovingforwardwithaunique5Gplan,optingtoimplementagovernment-ownedsinglewholesalenetwork.18

AsofJune2021,fivecountriesinAsiaPacific–Australia,Japan,Singapore,SouthKoreaandThailand–hadassignedmmWavespectrumtooperators.

SafeguardingSafeguardingthetheroadroadtoto5G5GininMalaysia:Malaysia:AnAneconomiceconomicriskriskassessmentassessmentofofMalaysia’sMalaysia’s5G5Gplanplan

,DTEconomics,2021

AsiaPacificadvancesonthedigitalsocietiespath 13

DIGITALSOCIETIESINASIAPACIFIC

Withthetransitionto5Gstillintheearlystagesinthesecountries,improvementsintheirconnectivityscoreshavebeendrivenbythecontinuedrolloutof4Gnetworks.InIndia,forexample,4Gpopulationcoverageincreasedfrom73%in2016to99%in2020,surpassingboth2Gand3Gcoverage.4GpopulationcoveragehasalsorisensignificantlyinBangladesh,reaching97%

in2020,upfromjust8%in2016.These4Gnetworkswillplayakeyroleindigitaltransformationefforts,supportingnewdigitalinnovationsandactingasabridgeto5Gnetworksinthefuture.

While4GrolloutshaveadvancedconsiderablyinSouthAsiainrecentyears,thereremainssignificantdisparitywith4Gtake-up.InIndia,4Gaccountedfor63%ofconnectionsattheendof2020,comparedwith27%inBangladeshand38%inPakistan.Shiftingto4Gisessentialtoimprovethemobileinternetuserexperienceandtoenableconsumerstobenefitfromadvanceddigitallifestyleservices.

2.2Digitalidentity

Theabilitytoproveyouarewhoyousayyouareindigitalformisafundame