TeleoGeography: Quarterly Wireless ARPU Down Worldwide

Courtesy of Techdirt comes research from TeleGeography that finds average revenue per user (ARPU) is declining worldwide, with only North American and Western European companies near their Q2 2004 levels.

Eastern Europe was the biggest loser, down more than 27%, followed by Asia-Pacific and Africa, down 18% and 12% respectively. Global ARPU was down 13%." Samples of ARPU for various carriers include:

• T-Mobile USA: $54 (Q2 2005) / $42 (Q2 2004)
• U.S. Cellular: $44.50 / $47.80
• T-Mobile Netherlands: $44.50 / $44.70
• Telenor Mobil: $47.50 / $51.60
• NTT DoCoMo: $60.40 (Q2 2005) / $68.40 (Q2 2004)
• Vodafone Australia: $37.70 / $44.20
• Unefon (Mexico): $18.80 / $20.80

TeleoGeography reports that 3G is helping drive up ARPU at certain carriers, citing "Hutchison 3G UK reported 2Q ARPU of $62 (compared to $37.40 average for Western Europe), and its sister Hutchison 3G Australia reported $61.80 (compared to $18.90 for Asia-Pacific)."