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Despite all the doom and gloom scenarios that appear each day as this recession unfolds, there's a pair of fresh reports predicting wireless data and content will continue to thrive. "It is likely that more people will be willing to downgrade their internet services, wireline usage, cable premium channels, restaurant eating frequency, energy consumption, vacation trips, and the gas mileage every week than reduce their wireless usage," wrote wireless consultant Chetan Sharma in a new report (PDF). Likewise, in a separate report released today by SNL Kagan , the firm predicts revenues tied to mobile entertainment such as video, music and games are projected to grow exponentially over the next decade, even though as much as 40 percent of wireless data revenues still comes from basic messaging today. The firm expects mobile data revenue to grow from $34.7 billion in 2008 to more than $113 billion over the next 10 years. Mobile video and TV are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 18.8 percent, music is forecast to rise by 12.2 percent and games should see a steady 10.9 percent growth rate. Sharma said wireless data revenues grew 7.3 percent from the previous quarter and 37.5 percent from a year ago to $8.8 billion. Totals for the first nine months of the year—$24.5 billion—is equal to the revenues generated in all of 2007. Even carriers which are seeing service revenues decline overall are seeing significant uptake on data services, although not enough to break even. Average revenues per user from voice declined 94 cents in the last quarter, but data ARPU grew by 90 cents. All four of the top U.S. carriers saw an 8 percent increase in data revenues overall in the quarter. Verizon ( NYSE: VZ ) and AT&T ( NYSE: T ), which account for 62 percent of the data market overall, are projected to cross $10 billion in data revenues for the first time by year's end. Sharma suggests it might be another quarter or two before the industry gets a better sense...

Cellphone makers are heading straight into a cold, dry winter as sales are expected to drop to their lowest point since the beginning of the decade, WSJ reports . Nokia ( NYSE: NOK ), Qualcomm ( NSDQ: QCOM ) and Vodafone ( NYSE: VOD ) have all come clean and warned that the outlook looks grim for the remainder of the year and admit there's little reason to expect anything better in 2009. Manufacturers know all too well that consumers typically clamp down on phone upgrades during lean economic times, and that doesn't bode well since replacement sales comprise about 75 percent of all cellphone sales each year. Handset sales grew 15 percent in the first half of the year, but demand has quickly vanished, and analysts expect growth to drop to between 1 and 9 percent next year. The slowdown will likely lead to a wave of consolidation, including acquisitions, bankruptcies or business closures. "This slowdown presages a shakeout, especially among companies whose balance sheets were not in great shape to begin with… This exacerbates the pressure on the weaker players throughout the industry," Deutsche Bank telecom analyst Brian Modoff told the WSJ . Those with large smartphone portfolios pushing the latest and greatest technologies and features are expected to the weather the storm best. Meanwhile, the companies that mostly target mid-range phones like Motorola ( NYSE: MOT ) and Sony ( NYSE: SNE ) Ericsson ( NSDQ: ERIC ) will face a tough road. Sales are dropping off dramatically in India and China while BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion, Apple ( NSDQ: AAPL ) and HTC are outperforming on many fronts. The largest phone manufacturer, Nokia, could come out with an even larger global market share. While the company makes many low-end phone sales in India it also boasts operating margins of more than double its closest competitors in the market. "Nokia needs these forest fires to clear out the competitive threats," Tero Kuittinen, senior analyst at Global...

In a major move and a first by a Japanese telco into India, NTT DoCoMo ( NYSE: DCM ) is taking a 26 percent stake in local telco giant Tata Teleservices, for a price of $2.7 billion. This is surely to spur more rivalry with other local giants like Reliance, Vodafone ( NYSE: VOD ) and Airtel, and help DoCoMo expand beyond its sluggish home market as well as try and redo its disastrous forays in Europe and Asia earlier. PTI : DoCoMo has been trying to enter the Indian market for some time. Tata Teleservices has also been trying to sell part of its stake for a while and it was in talks with South Korea Telecom two years ago, but the talks failed due to disagreement over price. Tata Teleservices has 30 million subscribers, making it the sixth-largest telecom company in India on that parameter. FT : Analysts said that DoCoMo was paying a high price to get into India, however. "We're very bearish on this. Tata has been on the block for years and nearly everyone has kicked the tyres and walked away," said one, who asked not to be named in the story. He added that, at around $350 per subscriber before debt, DoCoMo was paying a substantial premium relative to IDEA Cellular, a comparable Indian network . DoCoMo defended the deal, saying that because of Tata's rapid growth, it expected to make a 15 percent return on investment over the next five to ten years. Mark Logic Digital Publishing Summit, Thursday November 6, Westin Times Square. Insight and perspective from Outsell, Gilbane, Simon & Schuster, BusinessWeek.com, more. Evening cocktail reception. Cost is complimentary. Register now!

Vodafone ( NYSE: VOD ) reported first half profit fell 35 percent to £2.14 billion ($3.33 billion), or 4.02 pence (6.25 cents) a share, and announced it was trimming its sales forecast, the second cut in four months. Citing "challenging" operating conditions in Europe and the ongoing economic downturn in certain markets, Europe's largest telco cut its forecast for annual sales to the range of £38.8 billion ($60.2 billion) to £39.7 billion ($61.7 billion). An earlier estimate put sales ending the year March 2009 at £39.8 billion ($61.8 billion). Vodafone also announced that it was embarking on cost-cutting drive, aimed at reducing annual operating costs by around £1 billion ($1.56 billion) a year by the 2011 financial year to "offset the pressures from cost inflation and the competitive environment and to enable investment in revenue growth opportunities." Meanwhile, sales in the first half ending September 30, were up 17 percent to £19.9 billion ($31 billion) pounds, boosted by currency benefits. Organic growth, however, was 0.9 percent. Stripping out currency impacts and acquisitions, Vodafone's European business saw revenue fall 1.1 percent to £14.3 billion (£22.2 billion). Though data revenue was up, it could not offset the decline in voice calls. Spain, cited as a trouble area last quarter, stabilised, while its UK unit underperformed. Emerging markets performed better, with organic growth in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia rising 8.8 percent to £5.4 billion (£8.4 billion). Earnings Highlights: -- European voice revenue down, data revenue up: Voice revenue in Europe fell 4.3 percent on an organic basis, while data revenue increased by 23.5 percent on an organic basis, driven by increased penetration of mobile PC connectivity devices—or dongles. Attractive tariffs and commercial package offerings also helped drive data growth. Mobile email applications are also seeng "continued strong growth, but content downloads...

Virgin Mobile USA ( NYSE: VM ) reported stronger than expected financial results today, helped by a series of actions that took place following the company's acquisition of Helio. It wasn't so much Helio's customers and it definitely wasn't the company's distribution system that benefited the company, but the deal allowed Virgin Mobile to renegotiate its contract with its network provider Sprint ( NYSE: S ) Nextel, and was able to raise $25 million in funding from SK Telekom and Virgin Group, which lowered the company's debt. Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile USA's CEO, talked about how the acquisition both hurt and helped the company's Q3 performance. Here's excerpts from the company's conference call today and an interview with Schulmann: Release | Earnings Call | Transcript (via Seeking Alpha) Helio's financial results: When Virgin Mobile completed the purchase of Helio, it had 170,000 subscribers, but they lost 5,000 during the third-quarter, which negatively affected the company's net customer additions. However, Helio, which typically has higher paying post-paid customers, had a positive impact on ARPU (average revenue per user), which grew to $20.19 in Q3. Helio also contributed about $800,000 of EBITDA in Q3, but that was after Virgin Mobile rationalized costs, which included closing all of Helio's stores and kiosks, and reducing headcount from 600 to 190. Now Helio's customers will be profitable over the long-term. Helio's data services team is driving Virgin Mobile's innovation: In addition to providing Virgin Mobile a higher-end postpaid product that they can offer to customers, it is also driving the company's innovation going forward. Schulman: "Our strategy was take this fantastic platform that SK and Helio built and combine that with our strong distribution partnerships and our operational discipline." Helio's data service team is now Virgin Mobile's team. "We are keeping...

Clearwire's CEO Ben Wolff provided an update on the company's pending merger with Sprint's WiMax business during the company's third-quarter conference call. Following the FCC's approval of the deal last week, Wolff said the only approvals left to get are from Clearwire's shareholders, who are voting next Thursday, and from the company's lenders. Wolff: "There's no further action required by any governmental agency. It's a tremendous milestone for us, and we continue to work at closing the transaction by the end of the year." Still, after the financial results were reported this morning, the company's stock sank 28 cents a share, or about 3.5 percent to trade at around $7.76. Analysts had expected a loss of $1 a share on revenues of $55.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters ( NASDAQ: TRIN ), as reported by TheStreet . Actual results were a loss of $1.01 on revenues of $60.8 million. Release . Webcast . Highlights from the earnings call: -- Mobile WiMax Efforts: Once the Clearwire-Sprint merger closes, the company will put a new management team in place and set its market priorities and new branding initiatives. Wolff hesitated to provide too many details, but said that between Sprint and Clearwire ( NSDQ: CLWR ), they have WiMax networks in some form of development that will cover 100 million people. When the first Clearwire WiMax network goes live in Portland, next year, it will include a new branding campaign that is designed to simply and clearly explain what the company is providing. The Portland market will encompass 680 square miles of coverage. In the past several months, 200 participants have been providing feedback on the network. Clearwire has been working with big box retailers, independent resellers and building up direct stores for the Q1 commercial launch. In addition, Clearwire has been working on building mobile WiMax as an overlay in Bellingham, Wash., where it currently operates its pre-WMax technology...