North America leads mobile data market with 43% increase in data ARPU

Subscribers in North America generate the highest monthly ARPU from mobile data services worldwide, at US$8.90 in 2Q07, according to the September 2007 edition of Informa Telecoms & Media’s World Cellular Data Metrics (WCDM). Subscribers in Western Europe generate on average only US$7 per month.

Strong uptake of ‘all-you-can-eat’ data packages, a near three-fold increase in 3G subscriptions year-on-year and rapid growth in SMS traffic in North America were the main reasons for the 43% rise in data ARPU in the region in 2Q07 compared with 2Q06.

AT&T Mobility recorded 5 million WCDMA subscriptions at the end of June 2007 (compared with just 250,000 a year earlier), taking total 3G subscriptions (WCDMA and EVDO) to over 38 million. The total number of SMS sent in the region more than doubled year-on-year to 93.7 billion in 2Q07, equivalent to 120 per subscription per month.

Total data revenues for North America amounted to US$6.97 billion in 2Q07, a 66% year-on-year increase. Total data revenues in Western Europe rose only 35.6% year-on-year, while data ARPU in the region was up 14% to US$7 in 2Q07. The global data-ARPU figure was stable at US$4.20.

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