Ovum: Worldwide mobile data revenues to reach $419B in 2016

Global mobile connections will increase 30 percent over the next five years to 7.8 billion, with total mobile service revenues reaching $1,047 billion according to a new forecast by independent telecoms analyst Ovum. Although all regions are expected to experience sustained connections growth throughout the forecast period, Ovum anticipates Asia, Africa and the U.S. will lead the charge, adding billions of new connections by 2016.

Revenue growth is nevertheless slowing as voice revenues dwindle. Ovum projects that voice will still generate 60 percent of total worldwide mobile revenues by 2016, although voice revenues will begin to decline beginning in 2013, falling from $658 billion in 2011 to $628 billion five years from now. At the same time, Ovum predicts mobile data revenues will experience a compound annual growth rate of 7.2 percent during the forecast period, reaching $419 billion by 2016.

"From 2013, voice revenues will begin to decline as operators struggle to derive new revenues from customers and the significance of the market's shift towards data becomes even more apparent," said Ovum senior analyst Emeka Obiodu in a statement. "In 2016, non-voice revenues will no longer be a supplement to voice revenues. Instead, they will begin to replace them."

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