• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, April 1, 2010

With mobile data traffic surpassing voice traffic globally for the first time in 2009, consulting and research firm Chetan Sharma takes a closer look at the watershed transition in a new report.

The U.S. benefited the most from the shift, with the biggest gain in mobile data revenue, at 40% to $44.5 billion last year. Japan ranked second at $32.5 billion, followed by China, with $20.3 billion. Among carriers worldwide, Verizon Wireless was second only to Japan's NTT Docomo in data revenue, at nearly $16 billion. AT&T was fourth, at $14 billion, and Sprint Nextel sixth, with $7 billion.

In terms of usage, messaging still accounts for the bulk of data business, but media services such as mobile music, TV and video streaming, voice navigation, games, and location-based services, are gradually gaining ground. The U.S. eclipsed the Phillipines last year as the No. 1 nation in texting -- for whatever that's worth.

The explosion of apps and app storefronts last year also contributed to the mobile data boom. The total of app downloads hit 7 billion, generating $4.1B in revenue -- 12% of which came from in-app advertising, according to the study. The average price for a paid app was about $1.9o and the ad revenue from free ones was about 9 cents per user. App stores, meanwhile, jumped from just eight in 2008 to 38 last year.

And while Asia had the highest share of downloads, North America claimed the highest proportion of app revenue, with more than 50%.

Despite the gains in mobile data revenue last year, the telecom industry was not unaffected by the global recession. Overall mobile sales were roughly flat for the year at $1.1 trillion as the downturn and the competition pushed the average revenue per user (ARPU) lower for many operators. While countries like U.S., Japan, China, and India hardly slowed, most of Europe and the developing world saw a decline in overall service revenue in 2009.

Looking ahead, Chetan Sharma expects 2010 to be another breakthrough year, as the total number of mobile broadband connections will exceed the total number of fixed broadband connections for the first time. It will also usher in what the firm calls the "iPad era" and the rise of connected consumer electronic devices (CEDs). That trend in turn will lead to new types of pricing, including family data plans and the ability to include multiple devices in a single data plan.

And while last year was dominated by the launch of blockbuster devices like the iPhone 3G S, the next few years will see wireless operators and infrastructure companies grab the spotlight as they build out the 4G networks necessary to handle the growing torrent of mobile data traffic.