ARPU Rising…
A bit of news that should make wireless carriers smile. Over in the UK it turns out that people are now spending more on their mobile phones than they do on gas or electricity bills – and the ARPU (average revenue per user) is up 14% this year. Even more encouraging for carriers: those with camera phones are spending even more. This is, of course, exactly what the carriers have been hoping for – though, it remains to be seen if this trend will continue. Certainly a portion of the revenue comes from things like ringtones, which is a market that the bottom could drop out of quickly. It’s still not entirely clear what other applications end-users are willing to pay for on a regular basis. However, by making more options available to users (and giving them more tools, such as camera phones) we’ll soon find out what applications stick – and which people will pay for.
