Gartner says worldwide mobile connections to reach 5.6 billion in 2011

By eGovInnovation Editors | Aug 11, 2011

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Worldwide mobile connections will reach 5.6 billion in 2011, up 11 percent from 5 billion connections in 2010, while mobile data services revenue will rise to $314.7 billion in 2011, a 22.5 percent increase from 2010 revenue of $257 billion, according to research firm Gartner.

"Mobile data traffic will increase significantly as more people will have access to mobile data networks, there is a migration toward smartphones and an increase in sales of media tablets," said Jessica Ekholm, principal research analyst at Gartner. "Mobile data volumes will continue to grow as mobile data networks become faster and more ubiquitous, while at the same time the number of data users and data usage per user is expected to grow."

Gartner also forecasts worldwide mobile connections to experience steady growth through 2015 when mobile connections are forecast to reach 7.4 billion, and mobile data revenue will reach $552 billion.

In calculating its forecast, the research firm assumed there are four major mobile data traffic drivers: growth in the number of mobile connections, increasing availability of higher-speed data-centric mobile networks, smartphones, and data-consuming content and applications.

"Carriers should focus on increasing the level of clarity and the transparency of their mobile data contracts in order to make the majority of customers feel more at ease in using data services. This is particularly important when it comes to data roaming," Ekholm said. "Offering clients various ways of being able to track and monitor their data usage would help carriers receive a larger amount of revenue from more profitable lower-usage, medium-pay users."