Dr. Dobb's | DoCoMo Called Most Successful With Cellular Data

DoCoMo Called Most Successful With Cellular Data

Japan's NTT DoCoMo earns more revenue per user for cellular data services than any other cellular operator int he world, a new study says.

October 11, 2005
URL:http://www.drdobbs.com/docomo-called-most-successful-with-cellu/172302221

Japan's NTT DoCoMo is the most successful cellular carrier in the world when it comes to cellular data, a study released Tuesday claims.

According to the study by Informa Telecoms & Media, DoCoMo's average return per user (ARPU) for data services in the second quarter of this year was $17.60, most of which came from its long-successful i-mode service.

"This is higher than many operators’ voice and data ARPU combined,” Kester Mann, senior research analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, said in a statement.

By contrast, the European carrier with the best data ARPU is O2 Ireland, which reported $13.70 for the same quarter, according to the study.

NTT DoCoMo has 43.3 million active i-mode users, which is about 85 percent of all its subscribers, the study found. Its data services generated more than $2.4 billion during the second quarter, according to the study.