As mobile phone companies see substantial returns from delivering data, they are still worried by consumer demands for unfettered freedom to use untested devices or software applications to connect to their networks.SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. mobile phone companies have begun to see
substantial returns from delivering data and not just voice, fueled by
greater openness on their networks, industry leaders said on Wednesday.
But top executives of three of the nation's four largest mobile
carriers also said they are still worried by consumer demands for
unfettered freedom to use untested devices or software applications to
connect to their networks.
"You are seeing the bulk of our opportunities really coming out of
non-voice activities," Robert Dobson, chairman and president of
T-Mobile's USA unit, said during a panel at a wireless industry trade
show in San Francisco.
"Unfettered access would be a pretty bad experiment," Dobson said. "There needs to be some stewardship or control."
Industry trade group Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association
(CTIA), the organizers of the conference, released new statistics
showing that $14.8 billion of U.S. wireless revenue came from non-voice
services in the first half of 2008. That's 20 percent of total U.S.
wireless service revenue and a 40 percent increase over the first half
of 2007, CTIA said.
The rapid growth in data services has been fueled by the success of
Apple's iPhone with AT&T Inc and a race by rival carriers such as
Verizon and Sprint to offer competing phones and data services with
touchscreens and hot software.
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