Info Image

4G Drives Global Mobile Service Revenue Back to Growth in Q3 - Strategy Analytics

Mobile operator service revenue returned to growth in the third quarter of this year after four quarters of falls, albeit up only 0.1% globally, according to Strategy Analytics’ latest report. The sector is led by China which provided the overall boost to global numbers, but other regions such as Europe also saw improving trends with uplift from greater 4G LTE adoption, said the market research firm. 

Middle East & Africa recorded the highest growth in the third quarter at 2.7%, boosted in particular by strong data and voice performance in South Africa. Central and Latin America, however recorded the biggest revenue declines during the same period, down 6.9% year on year. 

The finding from Strategy Analytis which tracks the financial and operational performance of 246 active wireless operators, shows that the global mobile data traffic increased 71% year on year in the third quarter of 2015. As part of this, non-SMS data accounted for 43% of service revenue.

Phil Kendall, Executive Director, Wireless Operator Strategies
4G remains an important catalyst for revenue growth and recovery in the mobile market. Delivering a better network experience on increasingly larger-display devices, operators are seeing good data traffic and revenue growth trends enabled by 4G.

Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, Director, Wireless Operator Strategies
It is concerning for operators in developing 4G markets that leading markets such as Japan and South Korea are starting to see service revenue fall, reflecting the challenges of pushing 4G ARPU uplift right through into the mass market. 

Image Credit: Stragtegy Analytics

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

PREVIOUS POST

4 Billion IoT Devices on LPWAN IoT Networks by 2025, says ABI Research

NEXT POST

NFV Spending on Virtual Mobile Packet Core to Exceed Physical Network by 2019, Topping $8 billion by 2021