GigaOM has a piece up today on data revenues for US wireless carriers. With a saturated voice market, data is where the money is, and new numbers out from Chetan Sharma Consulting prove just how much 3G data use is contributing to the wireless bottom line. According Chetan Sharma, data spending was up to $8.2 billion in Q2 2008, accounting for 21% of total wireless carrier revenue. The average revenue per user (ARPU) jumped by 5%, even with a 5-cent decline in voice ARPU.
Access to the Internet on mobile phones is driving data revenues, and that’s exactly what’s pushing cable operators into the wireless space. Time Warner Cable’s Glenn Britt said as much back in May when he admitted that wireless voice didn’t interest him particularly, “…more interesting to me is the notion of broadband wireless.”
WiMAX and LTE are going to heat up the data market for both telcos and cablecos. It’s a race to get these 4G (or near-4G) technologies deployed, and that’s great news for consumers.
[...] mobile data services went through the roof, cable had limited interest in the wireless aspect of the so-called quad play. But now that mobile [...]
[...] it enables new cross-platform capabilities. Data revenues are also where the growth money is. A snapshot last August (the last time I looked closely) showed ARPU for wireless carriers continuing to go up, but only [...]