Telecom Lead India: Telecom operators are likely to post
6 percent increase in revenue – from mobile voice, mobile broadband, and mobile
messaging services in 2012.
Despite the popularity of over-the-top messaging applications
like Apple’s iMessage and WhatsApp, SMS is growing every year from 2012 to
2016, delivering a cumulative $1 trillion in operator revenue during those 5
years. Over the same period, voice revenue will decline only slightly, making
up a sizable chunk of operator revenues.
On a global basis, operators will see a 6 percent
increase overall in revenue from mobile voice, mobile broadband, and mobile
messaging services in 2012.
The highest growth in 2012 will come from Asia Pacific
and Latin America, while the EMEA region is expected to see a slight decline
due to cutthroat competition and economic turmoil.
Globally, the mobile services market is forecast to grow
to $976 billion by 2016, with the bulk of the growth coming from mobile
broadband services.
Mobile data (text messaging, multimedia messaging, and
mobile broadband) service revenue rose in every region in 2011, driven by an
increase in smartphone usage.
At more than a quarter trillion dollars in 2011, Asia
Pacific generates the largest portion of mobile service revenue.
Voice revenue dipped 0.8 percent worldwide in 2011,
despite the growing use of voice services in China.
Mobile broadband subscribers will grow from 15 percent to
nearly 40 percent of all mobile subscribers between 2011 and 2016.
The mobile world is undeniably shifting from voice to
data, as mobile operators migrate as many subscribers as they can to data
service plans and smartphones. Already in North America and Asia Pacific,
mobile operators derive over 40 percent of their mobile revenue from mobile
broadband and messaging. But, while mobile broadband is no doubt the fastest
growing revenue stream for operators, mobile messaging and voice aren’t dead
just yet, not by a long shot,” said Stephane Teral, Infonetics Research’s
principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics.
