Verizon, AT&T fuel mobile data revenues past $17B in Q3

Mobile data service revenues across the U.S. market topped $17 billion in the third quarter of 2011, a 5 percent quarter-over-quarter increase and a 22 percent year-over-year leap, according to new data published by Chetan Sharma Consulting. Annual data revenues remain on pace to reach $67 billion by year's end.

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T) together accounted for 62 percent of data revenue growth in the third quarter, generating 69 percent of all market data services revenues and representing 62 percent of the subscriber base. Overall average revenue per user increased by $0.31: Average voice ARPU slipped by $0.49, while average data ARPU grew by $0.80. Data revenues yielded 37.6 percent of overall U.S. carrier ARPU in the third quarter, with Verizon Wireless becoming the first U.S. operator to eclipse the 40 percent data ARPU milestone. Chetan Sharma anticipates data revenues will eclipse voice revenues sometime in early 2013.

A quarter after the U.S. market unseated the Philippines as the worldwide leader in text messaging, American messaging usage continues to increase, albeit at a slower pace, Chetan Sharma notes. Markets like the Philippines continue to experience significant declines in message usage as IP messaging options gain traction--European operators are also experiencing SMS revenue slippage. At the same time, the global market is seeing growth in mobile commerce and payment services, with verticals like healthcare, retail, and education also flourishing.

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