4G Mobile Revenue Set to Grow

The number of 4G network deployments is increasing worldwide and according to ABI Research, about 22 percent of device subscription revenues will be generated by suites of operator-branded premium services.

 

The research firm predicts that the total 4G mobile consumer service revenue including mobile internet services will be more that $70 billion worldwide in 2014. This growth will be driven by the initiatives of 4G network operators, noted ABI Research (News - Alert) practice director Philip Solis, in a release.

 

ABI Research’s new study “4G Mobile Consumer Services” indicates that these operators are expected to offer suites of ‘smart services’ developed internally and through partnerships with third party suppliers. Solis said that these services will be provided over ‘smart networks’ enabled with all-IP technologies, IMS infrastructure and cloud-based storage.

 

Operators will work towards optimizing these 4G services and in turn this will enable a proliferation of mobile devices, such as smartphones, netbooks and PNDs. Several operators will be offering pooled device subscriptions. ABI says that pooled device subscriptions involve one user subscription and many activated devices.

 

In the coming months and years, internet access service will be the “killer 4G service.” This doesn’t surprise ABI because 4G networks are data-only. The research firm expects a suite of premium “Web 3.0” services to collectively drive significant consumer adoption, revenues and profits.

 

This suite will include location services, such as turn-by-turn directions and POIs; multimedia services, such as VoD and P2P video sharing; media broadcast services, such as pay-per-view TV and digital radio; and gaming services, such as multi-player and augmented reality games.

 

These services will be integrated with popular Web 2.0 features and will be delivered to PCs, TVs and mobile devices. Services will be delivered over the internet, over cable networks, and over wireless networks.

 

“Operators will take advantage of this market opportunity by breaking down their walls and building open ecosystems,” Solis said in the release. “They will partner with third-party service providers from whom they can license and re-brand services; they’ll work with network and handset OEMs to influence infrastructure and device specs; and they’ll join ecosystem development organizations, such as Alcatel-Lucent’s (News - Alert) ng Connect program.”