Sweden Sees Sharp Increase in Mobile Voice and Data Usage

Mobile phone usage in Sweden increased sharply last year, as mobile voice and data revenue exceeded landline telephone revenue for the first time, according to the National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS).

In December 2007 alone, almost 500,000 customers made use of mobile internet services, up from just 90,000 wireless web subscriptions in the final month of 2006. Overall wireless data traffic increased ten-fold last year, while users placed more and longer cell phone calls, and sent an average of 40 SMS messages each month.

Total revenue from all mobile services came in at 19.7 billion SEK for the year, up 12% from 2006.

“We take mobile telephony for granted. We are used to placing calls whenever and almost wherever we want,” 2007 was the year when even broadband users could seriously consider mobile Internet services when choosing a provider,” commented Marianne Treschow, Director-General of the PTS.