Juniper Research has published a report that predicts a 21% per year increase in mobile data roaming revenue between 2012 and 2017 as more and more people use data services when abroad.

Total mobile roaming revenue is expected to exceed $80 billion by 2017, with mobile data accounting for $35 billion. This year, total worldwide roaming revenue is expected to reach $46 billion.

The GSMA and professional services firm Deloitte LLP have released a report that looks at the economic benefits of mobile telephone services.

It notes that an increase in mobile data use has led to an increase in the GDP per capita growth rate, as has a move from 2G to 3G service.

New figures from information and insights firm Nielsen show that people in the UK with Android smartphones transfer 78% of their internet content using WiFi and just 22% over a mobile connection.

Unlike network-focussed surveys, these figures have been compiled from a panel of over 1500 adults who’ve installed a Nielsen metering app on their handset.

Ofcom has published plans to ensure that UK mobile phone networks are able to support the ever-increasing demand for mobile data capacity. It’s also published new information that shows mobile data usage has more than doubled in the past 12 months; up from 9 million gigabytes last year to 20 million GB.

By 2030, it’s thought that demand for mobile data could be 80 times higher than today.

Three, the Hutchison 3G network in the UK, says it’s added more than 1.04 million customers in the past 12 months. It now has 8.8 million UK customers, with 301,000 joining in the last quarter alone.

The network is also deploying DC-HSDPA technology to upgrade its network and is increasing the speed of its backhaul connection to the internet.