Canadians are going mobile - more so than the French, Spanish, Germans or the Brits.

Data from a new "Canada Mobile Market 2006" statistical handbook, from industry analysts Research and Markets, says that strong growth in the number of postpaid subscribers has led to a rise in blended ARPU from $46.00 pcm in 2004 to $48.80 pcm in 2005 and will continue to rise to $50.00 pcm in 2006.

Canada has one of the highest postpay/prepay ratios in the world at 4:1 and again saw more new postpay subscriptions than prepay subscriptions in 2005. ARPU for postpay services is typically over 4 times that of prepay services in Canada and growth in postpay subscribers plays an important part in raising blended ARPU.

The big three operators all saw increased revenues in 2005 due to increasing ARPU and growth in the number of subscribers. Canadian penetration stands at 54% in 2005 and will rise to 63% in 2007, indicating that growth in operator revenues will continue due to rising subscriber numbers.

The percentage of ARPU spent on data services will increase by 4.5 percentage points by 2007 to 12.1%, fuelled primarily by strong growth in the messaging sector.

A high postpay/prepay ratio and room for growth in subscriber numbers shows the Canadian mobile market is in good health and will continue to grow into the foreseeable future.

Research and Markets has added the Wireless World Forum report: Canada Mobile Market 2006 - Your Statistical Guide To Understanding the Mobile Opportunities to their offerings, available online.