Mobile Phone Services - US - November 2007

Table of Contents

• Scope and Themes
• What you need to know
• Data for this report
• Definition
• Abbreviations and terms
• Abbreviations
• Terms
• Executive Summary
• The biggest gains in penetration are in lower-income and middle-aged subscribers
• Data revenues maintain ARPUs and lay the groundwork for future differentiation
• Data sales to drive industry as voice sales decline
• Verizon poised to overtake AT&T as service revenue leader
• Subscriber bases of major providers show similar demographic compositions but a definite skew
• Brand market tries to differentiate but speaks to the same audience
• Income, age, and race/ethnicity determine cell phone usage habits
• More customers happy than not
• Service providers face new challenges in shifting industry dynamics
• Market Drivers
• Subscriber growth led by middle-aged and lower-income subscribers
  • Figure 1: Growth of U.S. mobile subscribers, 2001-07
  • Figure 2: Estimated share of new subscribers, by household income, 2005-07
  • Figure 3: Estimated share of new subscribers, by age, 2005-07
  • Figure 4: Estimated share of new subscribers, by race/ethnicity, 2005-07
• Voice revenues face commoditization
  • Figure 5: U.S. mobile subscriber base and voice revenues per subscriber, 2002-07
• Data saves the day
  • Figure 6: Mobile data revenues as a percentage of total service revenues for top service providers, 2006-07
  • Figure 7: Usage of mobile data services, August 2007
• Low income subs drive prepaid
  • Figure 8: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, by household income, May 2006-Jun 2007
  • Figure 9: Prepaid subscriptions and monthly churn rates at the Top Five mobile service providers, 2005-06
• Market Size and Trends
  • Figure 10: Total U.S. sales of mobile phone services, at current and constant prices, 2002-07
  • Figure 11: Average revenue per mobile subscriber, by segment, 2002-07
• Market Segmentation
• Overview
  • Figure 12: Sales of mobile phone services, segmented by type, 2005 and 2007
• Mobile voice services
  • Figure 13: Sales of mobile voice services, at current and constant prices, 2002-07
• Mobile data services
  • Figure 14: Sales of mobile data services, at current and constant prices, 2002-07
• Supply Structure
• Companies and brands
  • Figure 15: Service revenues of mobile service providers in the U.S., 2004 and 2006
  • Figure 16: Graph: Service revenues of mobile service providers in the U.S., 2006
• Subscriber statistics
  • Figure 17: Subscriber statistics for major mobile service providers, 2006
• Surveyed subscriber shares
  • Figure 18: Service providers subscribed to, by year, 2003, 2005, & 2007
• Subscriber shares by demographic
  • Figure 19: Graph: Service provider subscriber indicator, by age, May 2006-June 2007
  • Figure 20: Graph: Service provider subscriber indicator, by household income, May 2006-June 2007
  • Figure 21: Graph: Service provider subscriber indicator, by race/ethnicity, May 2006-June 2007
  • Figure 22: Graph: Service provider subscriber indicator, by geographic region, May 2006-June 2007
• Service provider profiles
• AT&T (Cingular)
• Unique offerings
• Verizon
• Unique offerings
• Sprint PCS (Nextel)
• Unique offerings
• T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom)
• Unique offerings
• Alltel
• Unique offerings
• Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
• Advertising and Promotion
• Overview
  • Figure 23: Media expenditures of mobile service providers, 2004-06
• Cingular (AT&T)
  • Figure 24: Xtreme Clip: AT&T Unity Plan (January 2007)
  • Figure 25: Xtreme Clip: AT&T Unity Plan (September 2006)
• Verizon
  • Figure 26: Xtreme Clip: Verizon Family Share Plan (April 2007)
  • Figure 27: Xtreme Clip: Verizon In-Network (January 2007)
  • Figure 28: Xtreme Clip: Verizon In-Network (July 2007)
• Sprint (Nextel)
  • Figure 29: Xtreme Clip: Sprint (April 2007)
  • Figure 30: Xtreme Clip: Sprint (July 2007)
• T-Mobile
  • Figure 31: Xtreme Clip: T-Mobile myFaves (January 2007)
  • Figure 32: Xtreme Clip: T-Mobile NBA stars (April 2007)
  • Figure 33: Xtreme Clip: T-Mobile Jimmy' s HotSpot (June 2007)
  • Figure 34: Xtreme Clip: T-Mobile Family Plan (July 2007)
  • Figure 35: Xtreme Clip: T-Mobile Death March (December 2006)
• Alltel
  • Figure 36: Xtreme Clip: Alltel Nerds (February 2007)
  • Figure 37: Xtreme Clip: Alltel Family Choice (January 2007)
• Prepaid plans
  • Figure 38: Media expenditures of prepaid mobile service brands, 2004-06
• Go Phone (AT&T/Cingular)
  • Figure 39: Xtreme Clip: AT&T Go Phone (July 2007)
• Boost (Sprint)
  • Figure 40: Xtreme Clip: Boost (October 2006)
• Virgin Mobile
  • Figure 41: Xtreme Clip: Virgin Mobile (November 2006)
  • Figure 42: Xtreme Clip: Virgin Mobile (July 2007)
• Net10 (Tracfone)
  • Figure 43: Xtreme Clip: Net10 (May 2007)
• Retail Distribution
• Introduction
• Carrier retail stores
  • Figure 44: Media expenditures of retail stores owned by mobile service providers, 2004-06
• Electronics stores
  • Figure 45: Top ten consumer electroincs retailers*, 2005-06
• Internet sales
• InPhonic (Wirefly.com)
• Cell Phone Ownership and Types of Service Plans
• Summary of penetration and average spending
• Penetration
  • Figure 46: Cell phone ownership, by year, 2001, 2003, 2005 & 2007
  • Figure 47: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, May 2006-June 2007
  • Figure 48: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, by age, May 2006-June 2007
  • Figure 49: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, by household income, May 2006-June 2007
  • Figure 50: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, by number of persons in the household, May 2006-June 2007
  • Figure 51: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, by age and marital status, May 2006-June 2007
• Average spend per month on cellular/wireless phone bill
  • Figure 52: Average amount paid on last cellular/wireless phone bill, by age, May 2006-Jun 2007
  • Figure 53: Average amount paid on last cellular/wireless phone bill, by household income, May 2006-Jun 2007
  • Figure 54: Average amount paid on last cellular/wireless phone bill, by type of plan, May 2006-Jun 2007
• Cell Phone Features Used
• Summary
• Availability and usage of features
  • Figure 55: Usage of cell phone features, May 2006-Jun 2007
  • Figure 56: Usage of cell phone features, by age, May 2006-June 2007
  • Figure 57: Usage of cell phone features, by household income, May 2006-Jun 2007
  • Figure 58: Usage of mobile data services, August 2007
  • Figure 59: Average media offerings purchased, by age, August 2007
  • Figure 60: Average media offerings purchased, by household income, August 2007
• Reasons a Mobile Service is Chosen
• Summary
• How providers are selected
  • Figure 61: Reasons a mobile service is chosen, August 2007
  • Figure 62: Reasons a mobile service is chosen, by age, August 2007
  • Figure 63: reasons a mobile service is chosen, by household income, August 2007
• Attitudes towards mobile voice plans and interest in switching
  • Figure 64: Attitudes towards mobile voice plans and interest in switching, August 2007
  • Figure 65: Reasons to switch services, August 2007
  • Figure 66: Reasons to switch services, by age, August 2007
• Attitudes Towards Mobile Service
• Summary
• Attitudes towards voice service
  • Figure 67: Attitudes towards mobile voice services, August 2007
  • Figure 68: Attitudes towards mobile voice services, by age, August 2007
• Attitudes towards data and media features
  • Figure 69: Attitudes towards mobile data and media features, August 2007
  • Figure 70: Attitudes towards mobile data and media features, by age, August 2007
  • Figure 71: Attitudes towards mobile data and media features, by household income, August 2007
• Attitudes toward mobile GPS and other travel services
  • Figure 72: Attitudes toward mobile GPS and other travel services, August 2007
  • Figure 73: Attitudes towards mobile GPS and other travel services, by age, August 2007
• Reasons Not to Have a Mobile Service Plan
• Summary
• Reasons for holding out
  • Figure 74: Reasons not to have a mobile service plan, August 2007
  • Figure 75: Reasons not to have a mobile service, by age, August 2007
  • Figure 76: Reasons not to have a mobile service, by household income, August 2007
• Penetration, Spend, Selection and Attitudes by Race/Ethnicity
• Summary
• Penetration and spend
  • Figure 77: Cell phone ownership and types of service plans, by race/ethnicity, May 2006-June 2007
  • Figure 78: Average amount paid on last cellular/wireless phone bill, by race/ethnicity, May 2006-Jun 2007
  • Figure 79: Usage of cell phone features, by race/ethnicity, May 2006-Jun 2007
  • Figure 80: Average media offerings purchased, by race/ethnicity, August 2007
• Selection of service provider
  • Figure 81: reasons a mobile service is chosen, by race/ethnicity, August 2007
  • Figure 82: Reasons to switch services, by race/ethnicity, August 2007
• Attitudes
  • Figure 83: Attitudes towards mobile voice service, by race/ethnicity, August 2007
  • Figure 84: Attitudes towards mobile data and media features, by race/ethnicity, August 2007
• Future and Forecast
• Future trends
• Slowing subscriber growth will shift focus to retention and ARPU
• Retaining ARPU on an aging population
  • Figure 85: Growth of the U.S. population, by age, 2002, 2007 & 2012
• Voice commoditization
• Customer service
• Media convergence
• Content differentiation
• GPS mobile services
• Mobile virtual network enablers (MVNEs)
• Handsets unlocked
• Internet-based mobile calls
• Wireless health risks
• Market forecast
• Mobile phone services
  • Figure 86: Forecast of total U.S. sales of mobile phone services, at current and constant prices, 2007-12
• Mobile phone voice services
  • Figure 87: Forecast of U.S. sales of mobile phone voice services, at current and constant prices, 2007-12
• Mobile phone data services
  • Figure 88: Forecast of U.S. sales of mobile phone data services, at current and constant prices, 2007-12
• Forecast factors
• Appendix: Trade Associations