Mobile data revenue is expected to jump 23 percent due to ever-increasing usage of smartphones and tablets.
Mobile data services revenue will total $314.7 billion this year, a 22.5 per cent increase from 2010, research firm Gartner reports. In four years, mobile data sales will reach $552 billion.
Worldwide mobile connections will reach 5.6 billion in 2011, up 11 percent from 5 billion in 2010, Gartner said, rising to 7.4 billion by 2015.
“Data revenue will continue to grow but at a much slower rate,” according to Jessica Ekholm, principal research analyst at Gartner.
“What carriers need are innovative ways to increase data revenue while finding smart solutions to manage a growing demand in data,” said Sylvain Fabre, research director at Gartner.