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FORTUNE — The point in the attached chart — at Q4 2013 — where the rising blue tide touches the fading brown line represents a milestone in the history of telephony, according to mobile analyst Chetan Sharma. That’s when mobile carriers started making more money moving customers’ data than they made selling voice-calling plans.
Sharma predicts that the U.S. this year will be the first country to generate $100 billion in mobile data revenue, up from $1 billion in 2002:
“The US mobile market is by far the most dominant right now in terms of revenues and innovation across the stack. It wasn’t always like that. After inventing the industry, US lost the initiative to Japan and Europe until 2006-7 when the confluence of the iPhone, broadband networks, and robust applications ecosystem tilted things towards the US. Ever since, the US market has been on a rampage. And mobile data has been fueling this resurgence.”
Sharma’s annotated timeline, published Wednesday, singles out Apple (AAPL) for special mention: “iPhone launches, the world changes” (2007).
The chart is one of 16 slides in a data-rich report available online as a PDF.
