The mobile ecosystem, which brings together all of the operators of the mobile phone networks, along with hardware producers, contents providers, distribution companies and mobile infrastructure constructors, will contribute 10 billion dollars to the global economy over the next five years.

That is the conclusion of the report, "The Mobile Economy," which is published on Monday in the magazine, 'Mobile World Daily,', which is published during the four days of the Mobile World Congress, the most important mobile industry event in the world, which is being held in Barcelona from Monday to Thursday this week.

The report, which was elaborated by the association GSMA, which represents the interest of 800 mobile phone operators and over 200 more companies in the mobile ecosystem, says that mobile operators contribute 1.4 percent of the world's GNP.

The article, written by Michael O'Hara, who is GSMA's head of marketing, highlights that the mobile industry has transformed society and has become "an integral part of peoples' daily lives."

There are currently 3,200 million mobile phone users in the world and this number will rise to 3,900 million by the end of 2017.

These expectations of growth mean that companies plan to invest around 1.1 billion dollars of capital between now and 2017.

However, the penetration of mobile phones into the world market has not been evenly spread. Latin America is an emerging market, where it is expected that there will be a maximum of 150 million connections in the first quarter of the year, reaching 200 million by the end of 2013.

This growth is made easier by the fact that many local operators, who will part finance smartphones to help give an impulse to their implementation in society.

The situation is different in Africa, where only one in three people has a mobile phone: this is the lowest percentage in the world.

The development of mobile phones and broadband connections have also seen a notable rise in data transfer movements: 2012 saw more data transferred than in all of the previous years together, something which also presents challenges in many areas, above all in security questions.

The company Vodafone admits there are other developing challenges in questions such as "smartcities", which are being made possible by the advance of new technology and mobile connectivity. Vodafone stresses that operators still need the information to help define the needs of these cities, although the company adds that with adequate information, "we will be able to make the correct technological choices."

These and other questions will be dealt with during the Mobile World Congress in the coming days.