USA - AT&T Mobile is boosting its data charges and revenue for heavy users

[ibtimes] AT&T has received a lot of flak for its new data plans for smartphones. But like other carriers it is only going where the money is.

Data is an ever-increasing piece of the mobile communications pie. AT&T reported for the first quarter of 2010 that data revenues were up $947 million from the previous year, reaching $4.1 billion -- a growth rate of 29.8%. Total revenue was $30.6 billion, which means data was 13% of the total. A year earlier wireless revenues were the same -- $30.6 billion, but data services were $3.2 billion, or about 10.4%.

Other wireless carriers reported similar results. Verizon, for example, got 33.3% of its wireless revenue from data services, or $4.6 billion. In the same quarter the year before that was $3.6 billion, or 23%.

T-Mobile, in its first quarter 2010 earnings, also reported that data services were a bigger piece of the revenue per user as well as growing in absolute terms. The company reported $1.10 billion, up 18% from the same quarter in 2009. That's a slight uptick in the average revenue per user the data services represent, to 23.8% from 22.2%.

Sprint doesn't appear to break out those numbers publicly, according to spokeswoman Stephanie Greenwood. But she noted that of the subscribers added in the fist quarter of 2010, 57% were using smartphones - a data-heavy user set.

AT&T used to offer unlimited data for $30 per month. That plan will remain in place for existing customers. But new ones will have to sign up for either one of two plans, called DataPlus and DataPro. DataPlus offers 200 megabytes of data for $15 per month. DataPro gives 2 gigabytes of data for $25 per month. Additional gigabytes are $10 each.

Verizon's talk and text plans start at $59.99 and their unlimited data plan is $29.99, for a total of about $90 per month. Sprint's plans range from $69.99-$99.99 per month. T-Mobile offers an unlimited data plan for it's phones for $10 per month on top of whatever the customer is paying for his or her regular plan; for smartphones such as a blackberry unlimited Web plans start at $54.99. T-Mobile users also get a warning via text message, saying that if they are roaming their charges for data usage could increase.

AT&T, Other Carriers Follow The Money