Mobile Data Traffic Doubles

Ericsson said mobile data traffic almost doubled between the second quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of 2013, as the industry added 105 million mobile subscriptions globally. Ericsson also said that smartphones accounted for 55% of mobile phones sold in the second quarter of 2013 compared with 50% in the previous quarter. source: Ericsson report

Unicom Claims Market Share Gains

Bolstered by strong demand for 3G, China Unicom said that its operating revenues rose 18.6% year-on-year in the second quarter to 144.3 billion Chinese yuan (23.56 billion US dollars). Service revenues were up 13.8% to 116.5 billion yuan. Unicom claimed its market share, in terms of service revenue, rose to 21.3% in the first half of 2013, up from 20.4% a year earlier.  source: China Unicom presentation

T-Mobile USA Bounces Back

Deutsche Telekom said its revenues rose 2.1% year-on-year on an organic basis in the second quarter to 15.16 billion euros. In Germany revenues fell 0.8%, but T-Mobile US saw a 12.5% rise in revenues driven by strong sales of smartphones. In the U.S., the operator sold 4.3 million smartphones in the quarter, up from 2.1 million in the second quarter of 2012. 

T-Mobile US attributed strong customer growth to its "Un-carrier" strategy, combined with a the addition of the iPhone to its handset portfolio. DT said: "T-Mobile US has radically simplified its rate system, made it yet more attractive compared with its competitors' systems, and separated the mobile service contract, which can be terminated at any time, from the handset contract. At the same time, the roll-out of the LTE mobile network was accelerated. The network now covers 157 million people, compared with the original plan of covering around 100 million people by the middle of the year."

"We are winning droves of customers on both sides of the Atlantic. Our strategy is bearing fruit: We are in the middle of a massive turnaround in the United States and we want to carry on along this successful course. We are prepared to spend more on high-value growth this year than previously planned," added René Obermann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom. "In Germany, we have regained market leadership in terms of mobile service revenues thanks to our well-known best network quality and top service. And we gained more customers at European subsidiaries, too." source: Deutsche Telekom presentation

Home Market Hits Telecom Italia

Telecom Italia said that its revenues fell 2.7% year-on-year on an organic basis in the first half of 2013 to 13.76 billion euros, dragged down by a 10.5% fall in domestic revenues. In Argentina, revenues were up 22.5% and in Brazil 7.5%. source: Telecom Italia presentation