AT&T Wireless Data Revenues up 52%

AT&T wireless data revenues grew 52 percent compared to the same quarter last year, to $2.5 billion. If the U.S. market is anything like the European market, a large portion of that growth now comes from sales of wireless data cards for PCs, though no doubt the iPhone has kicked mobile Internet and mobile email revenues into a higher orbit as well.

Wireless Internet access revenues more than doubled in the latest quarter, compared to the same quarter of 2007. Mobile email and messaging delivered greater than 50 percent revenue growth, while text messaging volumes tripled, compared to the same quarter last year.

Multimedia message volumes increased more than 170 percent.

At the end of the second quarter, 18 percent of AT&T’s postpaid wireless subscribers had smart phones, up from eight percent one year earlier. These subscribers have average revenue per user metrics roughly double the typical level.

In the mobility segment, wireless data revenue growth now is the key, as IPTV and video are on the wired access side of the business.