Skip to main content

Worldwide Mobile Data Services Bonanza

According to Portio Research, in 2007 wireless operators worldwide generated more than $800 billion in mobile revenues. This is expected to reach $1,094.9 billion by year-end 2012, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.4 percent.

The $1-trillion mark is expected to be reached by year-end 2011. Although a rapidly growing subscriber base has led to growth in revenue for the mobile phone services industry, operator margins have shrunk over the years.

Operators worldwide, faced with declining average revenue per user (ARPU) due to falling voice tariffs, are now looking at ways to counter smaller margins by building alternative revenue streams through mobile data services.

Voice services still make up the lion's share of mobile services revenues -- in 2007, voice services accounted for approximately 81 percent of operator's total mobile service revenues worldwide. However, with an ever increasing focus on non-voice mobile services, this figure is forecast to decline to a little over 74 percent by year-end 2012.

In 2007, revenue from mobile data services accounted for approximately 20 percent of total service revenue in Western and Northern Europe; 15 percent in Central and Eastern Europe; 24.5 percent in Asia Pacific; 18 percent in North America; 10.5 percent in Latin America; 7 percent in Africa; and 11 percent in the Middle East.

The contribution of non-voice mobile services to total mobile services revenues is expected to increase significantly over the coming years, across all regions.

Rather unsurprisingly, Short Message Service (SMS) contributes the largest share to total non-voice revenues and in 2007, SMS accounted for approximately 49 percent of worldwide mobile data services revenues.

However, as other data services such as mobile music, mobile games, mobile e-mail, mobile instant messaging (IM) and mobile video gain popularity, the percentage contribution of SMS is expected to decline in the future, even though SMS traffic volumes will continue to grow worldwide.

In 2012, SMS is expected to contribute approximately 37 percent to overall data services revenues. Worldwide mobile data revenue is expected to increase at a CAGR of 16.2 percent, reaching $251.9 billion by end-2012 from $102.4 billion at end-2006.

Although revenue from all data services is expected to increase, the fastest rate of growth is forecast to come from mobile video services (CAGR of 68.2 percent), followed by mobile IM (CAGR of 58.3 percent).

Starting with SMS, then MMS, then other messaging services and on to mobile entertainment services, music, video, LBS and more, Portio's report takes a detailed look at each mobile data service and each regional market, highlighting key country markets and traffic or download volumes in those markets.

Popular posts from this blog

Global Digital Business and IT Consulting Outlook

Across the globe, CEOs and their leadership teams continue to seek information and guidance about planned Digital Transformation initiatives and the most effective enterprise organization change management practices. Worldwide IT and Business Services revenue will grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023 -- that's a 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The mid-term to long-term outlook for the market has also increased -- the five-year CAGR is forecast at 5.2 percent, compared to the previous 4.9 percent. Digital Sevices & Consulting Market Development IDC has raised the growth projection despite a weak economic outlook, because of vendor performances across 2022, growth indicators from adjacent markets, increased government funding, and inflation impacts. The actual 2022 market growth was 6.7 percent (in constant currency), which was 87 basis points higher than forecast last year, alth

Open Banking Usage to Grow by 470 Percent

The Open Banking business model has been advantageous for Third-Party Providers (TPPs), helping them to extend their offerings into other areas of financial services with new capabilities. Open Banking is also advantageous for traditional banking institutions, despite the perceived loss of custodianship over their data, by providing greater accessibility to more bank services. Furthermore, Open Banking can help serve Mobile Internet providers that are able to leverage it to create tailored services according to customers’ preferences and/or economic limitations. Open Banking Market Development Since traditional banking services are made more convenient by TPPs via greater data access, customers can proactively manage their finances and shape the development of new financial offerings. This is particularly noticeable in the realm of Digital Payments, where retail merchants and customers transact through eCommerce, which has the greatest number of use cases for Open Banking. These includ

Why Instant Issuance Payment Cards Evolved

The global financial services sector continues to grow as more progressive organizations seek to gain a meaningful competitive advantage from their digital transformation initiatives. Across the globe, many regions are seeing a significant rise in 'instant issuance' activity from a physical and digital perspective, from both traditional and emerging innovative banking institutions. Digital Payments Market Development Customers increasingly demand instant access to banking services, with physical instant issuance enabling them to leave their branch equipped with a ready-to-go payment card. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the market for instantly issued physical payment cards will increase from 243.2 million shipments in 2022 to a forecast of 471.1 million in 2027. "Critically, instant issuance of payment cards is no longer limited to the physical," said Sam Gazeley, industry analyst at ABI Research . Indeed, the growing digitization of p