Mobile data revenues have been growing steadily both globally and in the Arab World.
By 2014, mobile data revenues constituted around 50% of total cellular revenues of some operators in developed countries. The Arab Advisors Group has analyzed mobile data revenues of 15 operators in 14 countries in a new report.
A new report from the Arab Advisors Group analyzed the mobile data revenues generated by cellular operators in the years 2013 and 2014 in 14 countries: Bahrain, Brazil, Germany, Ghana, Jordan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Syria, UAE and UK. The research revealed that mobile data revenues of operators in developed countries constituted a considerably higher percentage of total revenues compared to operators in developing countries.
With more Internet usage, data revenues are rapidly increasing especially in developing countries; in Sudan for example, MTN registered a growth of 102% in mobile data revenues in 2014, while Zain Sudan registered a 61% increase.
“In this report, the Arab Advisors Group analyzed the revenues mix patterns of 15 operators; and found a continuous decline in voice and SMS revenues as a % of total revenues as well as in absolute terms while data services revenues register strong growth. Moreover, the report presents examples on data-centric plans offered by mobile operators in order to compensate for voice and SMS revenue loss.” Mr. Zaid Ghaith, Arab Advisors project manager stated.
“Operators in developed countries realized the impact of data revenues and started focusing on providing data-centric plans, which focus more on data consumption. The Arab Advisors Group notes that this model is also being adopted by cellular operators in the region in order for those operators to compensate for the drop in voice and SMS revenues caused by the increasing adoption of OTT applications.” Mr. Zaid Ghaith, Arab Advisors project manager added.