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Mobile data busts $100bn milestone
NTT DoCoMo leads the way

By Jo Best

Published: Thursday 27 July 2006

While it might not be the bloated cash cow that the operators were once hoping for, mobile data is still, it seems, raking in not insignificant amounts of cash.

Researcher Informa Telecoms & Media has found that during the course of 2005 global mobile data services were worth more than $100bn in revenue. It was the first time the milestone had been reached for a 12-month period.

2006 is already on track to beat the $100bn figure, with the first quarter of this year seeing $28bn generated.

Informa found that Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo is top of the mobile data pops, extracting $2.5bn from users' pockets in the first quarter of this year. O2 took the crown in Europe with revenues of $570m.

According to Informa, the world's new found appetite for mobile data is a result of improved handsets, smarter tech and more users signing up.