Skip to main content

Mobile Broadband Helping Service Providers

Over 15 percent of revenues generated by mobile operators globally came from non-voice services in 2008. According to the Informa Telecoms & Media market study, actual revenues comprising data services reached $188.7 billion in 2008, representing a 24 percent year-on-year increase.

"This is an important finding" commented Informa principal analyst, Nick Jotischky, "as non-voice services are becoming a central plank to mobile operator strategies at a time of increasingly high penetration rates, low voice tariffs and intense competition."

Not only can data services help to keep the offerings of mobile operators more relevant and distinct from their competitors, but they can also help to raise ARPU levels and generate new customers.

Looked at regionally, there is a considerable disparity in the significance of non-voice revenues -- at the top end, just over a fifth of the total $192.8 billion revenues generated by mobile operators in North America in 2008 comes now from non-voice services, as opposed to 5 percent of the $71.1 billion revenues from mobile operators in Africa.

The majority of the $188.7 billion of non-voice revenues are still SMS-based, but at the end of 2008, $75.1 billion (40 percent) of this revenue was from non-SMS services. The deployment of advanced technologies (such as HSPA) and the growing demand for data-optimized devices such as Apple's iPhone have helped to accelerate the level of non-SMS spend.

The advance of mobile broadband has been a key feature of the telecommunications industry in the past year with Informa putting the total number of subscriptions at 178.2 million at the end of 2008.

This represents extraordinary growth given that Verizon, the largest operator in terms of mobile broadband subscriber numbers (24.245 million), only registered its first such subscribers at the end of 2004.

Given that it took the best part of 15 years to register the first 178 million mobile subscribers globally, this represents a rapid evolution path for mobile broadband.

There are some warning signs, however, for the global mobile industry. There appears to have been a slowdown in data revenues reported by operators during the fourth quarter of 2008. While, some of this can be explained away by currency fluctuations, there is a question over whether the global economic downturn has left its mark.

"Globally, data revenues remained flat in the fourth quarter at just below $49 billion," Jotischky comments, "and the fear is that global macroeconomic conditions have had an impact on discretionary consumer spend, and especially in North America and parts of Europe."

If this trend continues into 2009, there is a real danger that any slowdown in non-voice usage will have an impact on mobile operator business strategies.

Popular posts from this blog

Industrial and Manufacturing Technology Growth

In an evolving era of rapid advancement, market demand for innovative technology in the industrial and manufacturing sectors is skyrocketing. Leaders are recognizing the immense potential of digital transformation and are driving initiatives to integrate technologies into their business operations.  These initiatives aim to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and ultimately drive growth and competitiveness in an increasingly digital business upward trajectory. The industrial and manufacturing sectors have been the backbone of the Global Networked Economy, contributing $16 trillion in value in 2021. Industrial and Manufacturing Tech Market Development   This growth represents a 20 percent increase from 2020, highlighting the resilience and adaptability of these sectors in the face of unprecedented challenges, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research . The five largest manufacturing verticals -- automotive, computer and electronic, primary metal, food, and machinery -

GenAI Revolution: The Future of B2B Sales Apps

When B2B buyers consider a purchase they spend just 17 percent of that time meeting with vendors. When they are comparing multiple suppliers‚ time spent with any one salesperson is 5 or 6 percent. Self-directed B2B buyer online research has already changed procurement. IT vendors are less likely to be involved in solution assessment. Now, more disruptive changes are on the horizon. By 2028, 60 percent of B2B seller work will be executed through conversational user interfaces via Generative Artificial Intelligence sales technologies -- that's up from less than 5 percent in 2023, according to Gartner. Generative AI Market Development "Sales operations leaders and their technology teams must prepare for the convergence of new forms of artificial intelligence, dynamic process automation, and reinvented deal-planning activities that will transform the sales function," said Adnan Zijadic, director analyst at Gartner . According to the Gartner assessment, Generative AI (GenAI) s

Rise of AI-Enabled Smart Traffic Management

The demand for smart traffic management systems has grown due to rising urban populations and increasing vehicle ownership. With more people and cars concentrated in cities, problems like traffic congestion, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions are pressing issues. Since the early 2000s, government leaders have been exploring ways to leverage advances in IoT connectivity, sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics to address these transportation challenges. The concept of a Smart City emerged in the 2010s, with smart mobility and intelligent traffic management as key components.  Smart Traffic Management Market Development Concerns about continued climate change, as well as cost savings from improved traffic flow, have further motivated local government investment in these advanced systems. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, they found that by 2028, smart traffic management investment will be up by 75 percent from a 2023 figure of