The size of the mobile data roaming revenue market will be nearly $50 billion by 2019, contributing 56 percent to global roaming revenues, said Ovum.
Growth drivers will be the increasing penetration of smartphones and SIM-enabled tablets, along with the deployment of LTE networks.
Europe – driven by EU — is the largest contributor to global roaming revenues, accounting for 46 percent of global roaming revenues.
The revenue contribution from Asia — particularly from Central & Southern Asia — will grow at 12 percent compound average growth rate (CAGR).
“The sheer size of the region contributes to the increase, as does the fact that mobile services will penetrate further into these markets over the forecast period, and the overall propensity to roam is set to improve gradually,” said Nishi Verma Nangia, senior analyst at Ovum.
Ovum said mobile data will experience the fastest revenue growth and is expected to drive growth of roaming revenues as voice revenues begin to stagnate.
Last week, NTT Docomo Japan announced that its TD-LTE customers can do roam on China Mobile network in China.
