Data Usage to Push Mobile Roaming Revenues to $80bn by 2017
- Thursday, October 4th, 2012
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Operator revenues generated from mobile roaming will exceed $80bn by 2017, according to a report from Juniper Research. This equates to almost eight per cent of operator billed revenues by 2017.
By comparison, mobile revenues are forecast at $46bn for 2012. So what will be driving this near doubling over the next five years?
According to Juniper, its all down to increasing data usage, with roaming data revenues growing at a CAGR of 21 per cent, and a reduction in roaming charges, encouraging usage – a process we saw the start of earlier this year with Vodafones roaming price plans. 
Report author Nitin Bhas points to wi-fi and M2M as a further opportunity for operators to enhance roaming revenues. “There is an increasing number of SIMs used not just within handsets but within an M2M capacity,” said Bhas. “Operators need to encourage M2M roaming, especially within the telematics segment, via partnerships with global operators.”
