Report: Q1 Mobile Revenue Down

Mobile service revenues grew by just 3 percent in Q1 2009, down from 8 percent a year earlier, according to "Wireless Operator Performance Benchmarking, Q1 2009," a report from the Strategy Analytics Wireless Network Strategies service. Nearly 40 percent of all mobile operators saw revenues fall in Q1 2009, compared to 16 percent in the same situation in Q1 2008.

The report, which tracks the operational and financial performance of more than 175 mobile operators that account for 80 percent of global subscribers, indicates that vanishing revenue growth was not just a problem in mature, saturated markets. One-quarter of the operators in emerging markets also saw service revenues fall in Q1 2009.