The mobile data revenue for the US is set to go past the $100 billion mark this year, VentureBeat reported citing a recently-released report from Chetan Sharma Consulting.
Analyst Chetan Sharma said the US will be the first country to surpass the $100 billion line, with China expected to follow in second place and Japan placing third. Mobile data revenue for the US was at $90 billion last year, highlighting the shift people are making as they begin to use their mobile devices more than their desktops, the report said.
The milestone came on the heels of US data revenue increasing in the fourth quarter last year. For the first time in 2013, mobile data revenue surpassed voice revenue. Sharma added that aggressive plans from Verizon and AT&T were the primary drivers behind the US leading the race to exceed the $100 billion mark, the report said.
With the $100 billion mark remains in sight, however, the intense competition in the mobile market would probably bring down data costs. According to Sharma, it won't be long before AT&T and Verizon will follow T-Mobile in cutting plan prices, the report said.
Sharma told VentureBeat in an interview, "The question is how much and how soon." Sharma added that the rivals of T-Mobile could "attack [by lowering prices] on the prepaid side, which would make sense - or on the postpaid side. It's all up in the air at this point." Verizon has actually started when it introduced more affordable plans last month, the report said.
A report from the Economist last year revealed that the most expensive data plans worldwide can be found in the US. Compared to China where data plans cost about $24 and in the UK where the cost is only $9, the US charges an average of $85 for data plans, VentureBeat reported.
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