Mobile broadband revenues is set to more than double over the next four years, according to an analyst firm.
By 2014, Infonetics Research expects the number of mobile broadband customers to hit 1.8 billion globally, representing more than a quarter (28 per cent) of total mobile subscribers.
Data from the firm showed mobile broadband service revenue went up 36 per cent in 2009, with revenue collected by providers for mobile services hitting 675 billion.
The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region is the top area for mobile broadband, according to Infonetics, largely due to the high number of mobile operators in developed areas of Western Europe with good High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) coverage.
Despite these figures, monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) for mobiles is "still trending down across the board."
Stephane Teral, principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure at Infonetics, claimed voice and SMS revenues are in decline, having been hit by new tariff regulations in the middle of a recession.
This has led many subscribers to change to prepaid accounts, she explained.
Teral added: "Moving forward, a two-race game is developing: how to keep up with the onslaught of low ARPU prepaid customers, and how fast can messaging and mobile app downloads replace phone calls as the major revenue drivers?"
