Strategy Analytics: Global Mobile Service Revenue Returns to Slight Growth in Q3

0.1% Growth Comes from 4G LTE Uplift and Recovery in China

Boston, MA - December 17, 2015 - Mobile operator service revenue returned to growth in Q3 2015 after four quarters of falls, albeit up only 0.1% globally. According to the Strategy Analytics’ Wireless Operator Strategies report “4G and China Drive Global Mobile Revenue Back to Growth”, China provided the overall boost to global numbers, but other regions such as Europe also saw improving trends with uplift from greater 4G LTE adoption.

Click here for the report: http://bit.ly/1T1fRIA

These findings are based on data from Strategy Analytics’ Wireless Operator Performance Benchmarking database, which tracks the financial and operational performance of 246 active wireless operators, which collectively account for 80% of the world's cellular subscriptions. Other key findings of the report include:

· Central and Latin America recorded the biggest revenue declines in Q3, down 6.9% year on year. Venezuela’s rapidly deteriorating exchange rate contributed to most of this decline, with the rest of the region down just 0.2%;

· Middle East & Africa recorded the highest growth in Q3 at 2.7%, boosted in particular by strong data and voice performance in South Africa;

· Global mobile data traffic increased 71% year on year in Q3 2015, with non-SMS data accounting for 43% of service revenue.

Quotes:

Phil Kendall, Executive Director, Wireless Operator Strategies , said “4G remains an important catalyst for revenue growth and recovery in the mobile market. Delivering a better network experience on increasingly larger-display devices, operators are seeing good data traffic and revenue growth trends enabled by 4G.”

Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, Director, Wireless Operator Strategies , commented “It is concerning for operators in developing 4G markets that leading markets such as Japan and South Korea are starting to see service revenue fall, reflecting the challenges of pushing 4G ARPU uplift right through into the mass market. Greater stability in the US supports our view that shared data plans are an important tool for value creation in this next phase of the 4G market’s evolution.”