IDC Competitive Analysis of U.S. Wireless Carrier Data Services and Applications Finds Total Messaging Revenues Topped $800 Million in the Fourth Quarter

Business Wire, May 4, 2005

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- As the wireless market matures and voice services become more of a commodity, the dynamics of competition among U.S. wireless carriers is rapidly evolving. IDC research found that U.S. wireless carriers generated a total of $1.6 billion in data revenues in the fourth quarter of 2004 (4Q04) from a base of 178.2 million subscribers and customers, with more than $810 million in total messaging revenues.

"Messaging remains the bedrock of data service revenues in the U.S. Over 16 billion total messages were sent and received in the fourth quarter of 2004, and messaging revenues represented roughly half of total data revenues. While Cingular Wireless took top honors with over a quarter of total messaging revenues, Verizon Wireless was a close second," said Lewis Ward, senior research analyst in IDC's Wireless and Mobile Communications program. "From the perspective of average revenue generated per retail customer in the quarter, however, Sprint PCS led the market based on the success of its Vision plans and its commanding lead in Picture Mail (MMS)."

IDC's comparison of data services and applications currently supported by the 5 major U.S. wireless carriers is divided into three broad categories: messaging, content and application downloads, and other services and content. Messaging includes SMS, MMS, and IM, but excludes email. Carrier totals, in terms of revenue and messaging volume, are included in the study, as are aggregated estimates for the rest of the market and associated market totals. A more granular look at an individual carrier's performance is available through inquiry.

In the study, IDC offers recommendations to U.S. wireless carriers as they continue to focus on key strategies that will allow them to achieve and sustain growth through data services and applications, including building a value-oriented data strategy, fine-tuning their marketing strategies for the youth and young adult markets, and looking for new customers by exploring emerging opportunities, such as MVNO's and prepaid.

The IDC study, U.S. Wireless Carrier Data Services and Applications 4Q04 Service Provider Analysis (IDC #33291), presents a competitive analysis of the wireless data services and applications delivered by the major U.S. wireless carriers for the fourth quarter of 2004, as well as an aggregated view of the rest of the market and the market as a whole. Each of the national carriers' performance is separately compared from a revenue and traffic/volume perspective. Market share totals and additional analysis provide a view into the widely divergent data strategies implemented by the industry. IDC plans to deliver this study and associated data metrics on a quarterly basis moving forward.

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