Global mobile revenue growth slows to 2 percent in Q3 2013

BOSTON, USA: Annual global mobile service revenue increased by just 2 percent in Q3 2013, half the growth rate achieved in 2012, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics' Wireless Operator Strategies (WOS) service.

The report, "Wireless Operator Performance Benchmarking, Q3 2013", shows rapid deterioration in Western Europe, in stark contrast to the improving picture in leading 4G LTE markets such as the US, South Korea, and Japan.

Strategy Analytics' quarterly Wireless Operator Performance Benchmarking database tracks the operational and financial performance of operators that account for 78 percent of the world's mobile subscriptions.

The database highlights a widening gap between annual revenue growth in South Korea (4 percent), the US (3 percent), Japan (1 percent) and Western Europe (-9 percent), where economic challenges, competitive intensity and more limited promotion of 4G LTE services have contributed to a worsening financial position for mobile operators.

"Europe's mobile operators are still struggling to correct market declines, with the deteriorating performance helping to fuel recent consolidation in the region," noted Phil Kendall, director or Strategy Analytics' Wireless Operator Strategies service and author of the report.

"4G LTE has yet to provide much of a revenue boost here, with operators struggling to identify revenue-enhancing growth stories and so resorting to improving value for customers through lower prices."