Voice still the key attraction for 3 customers

October 19, 2004

Despite the hype surrounding its new data services, traditional voice calling remains the principal revenue earner for Hutchison 3G, according to the latest version of EMC World Cellular Data Metrics. Overall, Hutchison 3G subscribers are spending more than six times as much on voice as on mobile data and in four markets, including Italy and the UK, Hutchison 3G's data revenue as a percentage of total revenue falls below that of its 2G competitors.

"This would suggest that 3's advanced data services have yet to make a real impact on the market and that subscribers are mainly using the networks for cheap voice calls," comments Kester Mann, Senior Research Analyst at EMC and editor of World Cellular Data Metrics. "3's aggressive strategy may have been successful in terms of subscriber recruitment, but it remains to be seen whether these new customers will ultimately turn out to be heavy data users," adds Mann.

Yet there is still cause for optimism. Hutchison 3G has the highest ARPU in both Italy and the UK, meaning that its subscribers are actually spending more on mobile data than its competitors'. This offers a clear revenue opportunity for Hutchison if it can successfully entice these already high spending customers towards advanced data services such as video calling.

Source: EMC World Cellular Data Metrics, September 2004