5G – an impossible dream for four billion emerging market users

– 85% believe 5G not for them
– A third don’t know what 5G is
– 42% are yet to even experience 4G
– More than 60% feel quality of connection is their key concern

25th February, 2019 – Ding, the largest international mobile top-up (ITU) platform, announced today that while 5G is undergoing a historic period of investment in the developed world, emerging markets are still grappling with 2G, 3G, with some availing of 4G technology. According to Ding research, the event of 5G is still something which some four billion prepaid phone users in emerging market feel is a long way off, and in fact 84% believe that 5G technology is not aimed at them in the medium to long term.

Highlighted by the fact that more than a third of those surveyed were yet to experience even 4G technology and 28% claim to not know what 5G is. The findings are the first wave of a global research project, which Ding is undertaking in partnership with Horowitz, a global leader in multi-cultural research. The purpose of the overall study is to gain a better understanding of migrant behaviours in terms of value transfer such as remittance and ITU.

Commenting on the research findings, Mark Roden, Chief Executive at Ding said:
“This year at MWC 5G is without doubt the buzzword, with actual use cases being revealed, but for many of our customers the reality of accessing this technology is nothing but a dream.”

He added:
“This life changing development is skewed to largely benefit just a small percentage of the population in the near to medium term – and serve to once again extend the growing social and technological divide in society.”

Ding’s wide-ranging study is also looking at the true value of remittances and ITU for the receiver – the research has revealed that remittances typically increase the income of a receiver in emerging markets by 30% to 100%. Our study shows that up to 90% of remittances, including top-up are used for consumptions such as utilities, education, communications and transportation.

Even though people in emerging markets are able to purchase mobile phones and have income to pay for some service, two billion people live in countries where 1GB of data is still unaffordable, costing over 10% of their monthly income. Undoubtedly, affordability remains a key issue for users in Emerging markets receiving top-up and remittances. In terms of priorities when choosing a network, some 60% of those asked feel that quality of connection is the key driver when considering a network, followed by price, and customer services.

The study also revealed that even though the majority of migrants fear that the delivery of 5G to their home country will lag far behind the developed world, over 50% of respondents are still hopeful to receive the technology at some point.
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Notes to editors:

About Ding

Ding www.ding.com was founded to change billions of lives by accelerating mobile access. As the number one international mobile top-up platform in the world, Ding has been keeping people connected since 2006, when it launched this first-of-a-kind service. Today, Ding’s users have successfully sent over 300 million top-ups globally, via the app, online at Ding.com, and in-store at over 600,000+ retail outlets worldwide.

The number of prepaid mobile phones is growing and now accounts for 76% of the world’s five billion phones, with one quarter offline and in need of top-up at any one time – highlighting
the need for Ding’s frictionless and instant mobile top-up. In fact, Ding delivers a top-up every second, via 500+ operators, across 140+ countries – helping families and friends around the world to stay connected. Ding is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and has regional offices in Barcelona, Bucharest, Dhaka, Dubai, New Jersey, Miami, Paris, and San Salvador. Ding’s culturally diverse team of more than 200 people reflects our commitment to delivering cutting-edge, potentially life-changing technology to developed and emerging markets alike.