Mobile operators in Japan and South Korea have already reached 40% penetration of 3G services and they provide valuable lessons for mobile operators in other regions, a new report from research firm Analysys said.
The report also said Japanese and South Korean operators have 'consistently led the world in the development of innovative mobile services and technology.' 'Despite the intention of Western mobile operators to develop a broader range of non-voice services, data ARPUs are still dominated by basic SMS person-to-person messaging,' Alastair Brydon, co-author of the report said. 'In contrast, Japanese and South Korean operators generate a significant proportion of their total revenue from data services other than text messaging.'
The report shows how this data revenue is achieved with rich portfolios of services, including mobile Internet access, entertainment, ringtones and music, games, mobile TV and video, community portals and mobile transactions.
While Japan and South Korea have had some successes with non-voice services, the Analysys report warns against blindly following their lead. 'In the race to offer new services and capabilities, operators in Japan and South Korea have sometimes failed to anticipate the full commercial implications of their actions,' Brydon said