Mobile data, messaging revenue overtake voice: Telsyte

Mobile data and messaging revenue surpassed voice call revenue in the six months to December 2012, according to research from analyst firm Telsyte – the first time that data and messaging have overtaken revenue from voice in the Australian mobile services market.

Telsyte’s mobile services analyst, Alvin Lee, said mobile data and messaging revenue just tipped over 50 per cent over the period.

“The phenomenal growth of smartphones, apps and personal messaging has finally put data and messaging ahead of call revenues for carriers,” Lee said in a statement.

“Ultimately carriers will move to an all IP network with voice becoming another data application.”

The analyst firm also estimated the number of mobile connections in operation on Australian mobile networks – which includes mobile phones, mobile broadband, tablets and machine to machine (M2M) connections – reached 30.6 million at the end of December 2012, or around 133 per cent population penetration. About 6 per cent of these connections were 4G, Telsyte said.

Facebook is predicted to influence the Australian mobile market with the launch of Facebook Home on Android and it offers users a unified experience across multiple devices, Telsyte said.

“Over half of Australian population uses Facebook, and the likes of Facebook are providing a unified experience across devices such as computer, tablet and smartphone for communications including voice, messaging and other social activities,” Lee said.

Facebook Home reached 500,000 downloads in 10 days, with the company reporting that at the end of 2012 it had 680 million monthly active mobile users.

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