80% of mobile operators likely to become data connectivity providers

80% of mobile operators agreed that becoming a mobile data connectivity provider is either quite likely or highly likely, according to 3-ple Media. Average revenue per user (ARPU) from traditional services has been in steady decline, but 52% of operators said they are current revenue leaders in the field. 26% operators rated themselves as likely to be the revenue leader by 2010, but 28% said they would be second to content (media) providers. Operators ranked advertisers (24%) and web 2.0 companies (15%) the next likely to be revenue leaders.