Mobile operators in Western Europe are losing out despite a 39% rise in mobile data traffic year-on-year in 2012.
Research firm ABI Research claims the rise in data traffic is being offset by declines in well established revenue generators including minutes of use and text messaging. Mobile subscribers consumed a total of 3,077-exabytes of data in 2012, however average revenues are in decline, the firm warns.
Jake Saunders, vice president of forecasting at the firm, says carriers must “make sure they stay relevant to their customers in an OTT world.” He says rich content services are one way for carriers to achieve that, pointing to Orange’s soon to launch Joyn service as an example. Joyn “is intended to help operators go beyond outdated circuit-switched voice and SMS,” he explains.
The majority of mobile data usage in Western Europe was racked up by 3G subscribers, who generated 64% of the total. Marina Lu, research associate at ABI Research, notes that half of all subscribers in the region have a 3G contract.