China, South Korea set for broadband revenue growth

Forecasts span the countries' fixed and mobile broadband services, respectively.

In East Asia, China is expected to see an increase in fixed broadband services revenue whilst South Korea heads towards higher earnings from mobile data services.

According to GlobalData forecasts, fixed broadband services revenue in China is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.3% from 2025 to 2030.

The projection is based on the high adoption of fibre-to-the-home/building services in the country. This will contribute to China's total fixed communications services revenue, which is predicted to reach $47.6b during the forecast period.

"Fibre broadband currently dominates the fixed broadband market, and with continued momentum, the country is expected to see fibre-only broadband market by the end of 2030," noted GlobalData Telecom Analyst Pradeepthi Kantipudi.

GlobalData added: "China's ongoing efforts to accelerate next-generation broadband infrastructure, including gigabit broadband upgrades and 10G optical network deployments, are expected to further boost premium fibre broadband service adoption across both residential and enterprise segments."

In terms of subscription share in the Chinese fixed broadband services market, China Mobile is ahead of China Telecom and China Unicom.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, mobile data service revenue is set for a 5% CAGR as a result of the wider availability and adoption of 5G plans along with the continued popularity of mobile internet subscriptions.

"The average monthly data usage over mobile networks is forecast to increase from 19.4GB in 2025 to 41.8GB in 2030, in line with the growing consumption of high-bandwidth online video and social media content over mobile networks," said GlobalData's Hrushikesh Mahananda.

"This growth is facilitated by the widespread availability of 4G networks, ongoing 5G network expansions, and operators' data-centric plans."

The telecom analyst went on to highlight: "South Korea's mobile market is rapidly evolving, with operators focusing on expanding 5G adoption and effectively monetising surging data usage.

"As data usage surges, operators will prioritise wider network rollouts, capacity enhancements, and tiered pricing strategies to convert traffic growth into revenue."

Not surprisingly, fixed and mobile voice services are seeing a decline earnings-wise.