Skip to main content

EV-DO Data Subs Exceed 85 Million in 2008

The number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide actively using data services via CDMA2000 1xEV-DO increased more than 80 percent year-on-year, according to the latest market study by Informa.

The figure surpassed 56 million at the end of 3Q07, up from 30.8 million a year earlier, to represent 15.3 percent of the world's overall CDMA base.

The increase was driven by Verizon Wireless (USA) and KDDI (Japan), the leading EV-DO operators, which accounted for 60 percent (33.8 million) of the world total between them at the end of 3Q07.

Verizon Wireless total EV-DO subscriptions increased nearly three-fold in the year to September 2007, boosted by a wider range of EV-DO-enabled devices. Currently 39 of the operator's 49 handsets are EV-DO-capable.

KDDI has the highest percentage of CDMA users that are also active users of data via EV-DO (56.4 percent). Innovative data services, as well as Japanese subscribers propensity to regularly upgrade to the latest handset models, are the reasons for the operator's success.

Informa forecasts that the total number of subscriptions actively using data via EV-DO (including Revision A and B) will exceed 85 million in 2008 and pass 115 million in 2009. Already, more than 80 million subscriptions are actively using EV-DO-enabled handsets for voice services, showing that there is a sizeable potential market for operators to promote their advanced data services.

Meanwhile, Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts that HSPA data subscriptions will reach nearly 50 million in 2008, before jumping to 107 million at the end of 2009 and nearly doubling again to 208 million in 2010.

Growth will be driven by more operators deploying the technology (more than 150 already have), as well as an improved portfolio of HSPA-enabled devices.

Popular posts from this blog

Agentic Commerce Moves Closer to Reality

For decades, the story of digital commerce has been one of incremental improvement: better search, faster checkout, smarter recommendations. But something more fundamental is now underway. The emergence of agentic commerce, in which AI agents autonomously search, evaluate, and execute purchases on behalf of buyers, represents a genuine architectural shift in how commerce operates. Whether it becomes the revolution its proponents promise, or another technology that peaks at interesting pilot project, will depend on how effectively the AI industry addresses the structural challenges it faces. Agentic Commerce Market Development Agentic commerce involves deploying AI agents to handle the full purchasing cycle. Rather than browsing a website and entering card details yourself, you grant an AI agent the authority to act on your behalf, within defined parameters. The agent handles product discovery, comparison, negotiation, and payment execution. It draws on your procurement preferences, pur...