Mobile broadband evolution maintains 24% rise in data revenues in 2008

Over 15% of revenues generated by mobile operatorsglobally came from non-voice services in 2008.According to the latest data made available by InformaTelecoms & Media’s World Cellular Data Metrics report,actual revenues comprising data services, reachedUS$188.7bn in 2008, representing a 24% year-on-yearincrease.

“This is an important finding” commented InformaTelecoms & Media principal analyst, Nick Jotischky,“as non-voice services are becoming a central plank tomobile operator strategies at a time of increasinglyhigh penetration rates, low voice tariffs and intensecompetition. Not only can data services help to keepthe offerings of mobile operators more relevant anddistinct from their competitors, but they can also helpto raise ARPU levels and generate new customers.”

Looked at regionally, there is a considerable disparityin the significance of non-voice revenues – at the topend, just over a fifth of the total US$192.8bn revenuesgenerated by mobile operators in North America in 2008comes now from non-voice services as opposed to 5% of theUS$71.1bn revenues from mobile operators in Africa.

The majority of the US$188.7bn of non-voice revenues arestill SMS-based, but at the end of 2008, US$75.1bn (40%)of this revenue was from non-SMS services. The deploymentof advanced technologies (such as HSPA) and the growingdemand for data-optimised devices such as Apple’s iPhonehave helped to accelerate the level of non-SMS spend.

The advance of mobile broadband has been a key feature ofthe telecommunications industry in the past year withInforma putting the total number of subscriptions at178.2m at the end of 2008. This represents extraordinarygrowth given that Verizon, the largest operator in termsof mobile broadband subscriber numbers (24.245m), onlyregistered its first such subscribers at the end of 2004.Given that it took the best part of 15 years to registerthe first 178m mobile subscribers globally, thisrepresents a rapid evolution path for mobile broadband.

There are some warning signs, however, for the globalmobile industry. There appears to have been a slowdownin data revenues reported by operators during the fourthquarter of 2008. Whilst, some of this can be explainedaway by currency fluctuations, there is a question overwhether the global economic downturn has left its mark.“Globally, data revenues remained flat in the fourthquarter at just below US$49bn”, Jotischky comments,“and the fear is that global macroeconomic conditions havehad an impact on discretionary consumer spend, andespecially in North America and parts of Europe. If thistrend continues into 2009, there is a real danger that anyslowdown in non-voice usage will have an impact on mobileoperator business strategies.”

Informa also publishes for the first time information onbroadcast mobile TV networks. By the end of 2008, therewere 26 live networks in deployment with the total numberof subscribers reaching 27.718m at the end of 2008, ofwhich over 21m subscribed to Japan’s 1Seg network,available on NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank networks.