The mobile services revenue in Japan is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8% from US$73.7bn in 2019 to US$95.4bn in 2024, primarily driven by the mobile data segment, according to the revised forecasts from GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s Japan Telecom Operators Country Intelligence Report highlights that  mobile data revenue will grow at a CAGR of 10.2% over 2019-2024, driven by a rise in data average revenue per user (ARPU) and growth in mobile Internet subscriptions.

On the other hand, revenues from mobile voice and messaging services will decline at CAGRs of 1.5% and 7.8%, respectively, during 2019-2024. Although GlobalData expects that the COVID-19 outbreak to slow down the economic growth during 2020, the impact on the mobile sector in Japan will be relatively mild due to the successful containment measures.

Deepa Dhingra, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Though 4G is the leading mobile technology in Japan, its subscription share will continue to decline from 71.5% in 2019 to 63.3% in 2024 due to subscriber migration to 5G services. The major MNOs – NTT, KDDI and Softbank – have already launched 5G services in March 2020.

“NTT led the mobile services market in 2019, followed by KDDI. GlobalData expects NTT Docomo to maintain its leadership through 2024 due to its strong focus on mobile network upgrades and expansion. NTT has been focusing on developing new 5G use cases for industrial applications to strengthen its position in the mobile market.”