News
EU mobile data hits 7 billion euros
Stuart O'Brien Jun 11 2008, 11:42am
The GSMA says European mobile data revenue increased by 40 per cent last year.
Research from the GSM Association says the EU's mobile data market (excl messaging) grew by 40 per cent to 7 billion euros in 2007, driven by operators investing 20 billion euros in network infrastructure and services.
The data also shows that the number of 3G users in the EU doubled to 112 million in the year to April 2008, making the region the fastest 3G adopter in the world (the GSM says 22.5 per cent of EU mobile users have 3G, compared with 18.4 per cent in the US/Canada and 3.7 per cent in Asia-Pacific).
The GSMA and its research partners Wireless Intelligence and AT Kearny also say the EU's mobile data roaming traffic jumped by 75 per cent last year.
European operators must be seriously coining it then from people trying to download full episodes of Friends while abroad? Well, the GSMA says data roaming charges fell by 25 per cent in the year to April.
Tom Phillips, chief government & regulatory affairs officer at the GSMA, said: "Competition, including from Wi-Fi, is delivering dramatic reductions in the retail price of data services, which give mobile users the convenience of being able to access email, the internet and other multimedia services wherever they travel within Europe."
