Over at Gigaom, they are predicting a wide spread slow down of Wireless Data Services WDS:

Last week, UBS Research in a research note pointed out that AT&T had 1.25 million 3G laptop subscribers as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2008. Net card additions had fallen 121,000 from the 186,000 additions in the third quarter and 166,000 in the second. This was “likely due to weakening spending at both businesses and consumers,” said UBS. Going forward, severe job losses and overall belt-tightening (including less travel) on the part of companies will reduce the number of 3G laptop subscribers as well.

While we agree that the reduced increase in the number of wireless data subscribers per month is due to the slowing of the economy in general, the carrier’s future is in wireless data services, as voice minutes as percentage of revenue continue to decrease.

The strongest element for success for WDS is not the carriers themselves, if it was up to them we would still be charged 10c per Kbyte and no one would be using the service. The future of WDS is because very powerful constituents are about to fight tooth and nail to control the key applications on tomorrows Smartphone. Google, Nokia, Apple and Microsoft are spending billions to make sure that will happen.

Google believes that mobile advertising will be larger than the existing browser bound search as they are able to reach further into the consumers life. Microsoft, smarting from the serious ass-kicking from Google are determined to make sure Google is not number one in the mobile space. Apple, whilst having a head start in the new mobile world (heck, they created the new mobile world) will not be satisfied until iTunes is the only place you can buy digital music and control the multi billion dollar market. And Nokia, while they have a strong head start, are very conscious that if they do not react, they will be as relevant in 2012 as Motorola is today.

If the carriers become information highway roadkill, then that is just fine with the big four, they need the carriers only insofar as they deliver customer data to them when and where they need them, and most importantly not to be an impediment to the delivery of these services.

Although carriers have direct retail relationships with their customers, Apple has shown that it is possible, with the right circumstances to have a stronger relationship with that mobile customer than the carriers. When was the last time you heard an iPhone user gloat over ATT?.