Report: Verizon leads on mobile data revenue

A new report issued by market intelligence firm IDC says there are now more than 229 million U.S. wireless subscribers spending an average of $6.00 per month on data services, yielding $4.1 billion in revenue during the third quarter of 2006. IDC says messaging constitutes nearly half of U.S. data revenues, with business- and consumer-oriented services and content at 40 percent and content and simple application downloads at 12 percent.

During the quarter in question, Verizon Wireless emerged as the new leader on data spending-per-customer with $7.27 a month, eclipsing longtime metric leader Sprint Nextel's $7.15 per subscriber. "Among the national carriers, Verizon Wireless is today the overall leader in data services in terms of total wireless data revenue, data percentage of ARPU, and data spending, although Sprint Nextel and the other national carriers continue to lead in select services," said IDC Wireless and Mobile Communications research analyst Julien Blin in a prepared statement.

IDC reports ringtones remain the most popular premium download among U.S. consumers, with 20 percent of subscribers purchasing at least one ringtone every quarter. "Master track ringtone sales continue to rise in popularity, and more than half of all ringtones sold today are of this variety," Blin said. "Continued support from leading record labels, media companies, and brands will remain a factor driving future sales. While direct-to-consumer ringtone sales are likely to continue to grow in the next few years, other innovative strategies and technologies such as super-distribution, enhanced mobile search, music recognition and bundles are likely to become important elements in the market."

For more on the IDC report:
- read this release

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