mocoNews - @ CTIA: T-Mobile USA Says G1 Users Have Downloaded 40 Apps Each; Updates Developer Program

T-Mobile USA is one of the more aggressive U.S. carriers when it comes to embracing open platforms?it was the first to roll out a phone based on Google's Android operating system, and it created a fairly progressive developer program that mirrors what Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is doing on the iPhone. In an interview with mocoNews, the fourth-largest carrier provided updates on both fronts?it provided new statistics for the T-Mobile G1, including the fact that each customer has downloaded 40 applications from the Market, and also told us that it is tweaking its developer program after receiving feedback from developers on what needs improving.

T-Mobile G1 Usage Trends:

?G1 Android Market: T-Mobile G1 customers have each downloaded more than 40 applications from the Android Market. If estimates are close to being correct?and about 1 million G1's have been sold to date?that could translate into about 40 million downloads total. That's a fraction of the 500 million downloads achieved on the iPhone, however, the iPhone has more users and has been offering downloads for a longer period of time. In addition, four out of five G1 customers, commonly download applications at least once a week.

?On Browsing: Among the T-Mobile customers who have purchased the G1, about half have traded up from a basic handset, and use data services 50 times more than the average voice-centric phone user; and 80 percent of T-Mobile G1 customers browse the web on a daily basis.

More on changes to the web2go and The T-Mobile Partner Network after the jump?.

Updates on the T-Mobile Partner Network:

?Web2go and The T-Mobile Partner Network: Four months ago, the company launched its web2go portal, which replaced T-Zones. The portal not only integrated Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) search, but was the consumer-facing side of its developer program, which allows application developers to fill out an online form to be included in the company's storefront, rather than spending months working out a business agreement with T-Mobile. The program standardized revenues share agreements, etc.

?Lessons learned: Ian McKerlich, T-Mobile's director of mobile Web and content services, said that the initial program did not take things far enough. In the new program called the T-Mobile Partner Network, it has simplified the revenue share agreement more by making it a 70/30 split across the board; it also removed a bandwidth cap, although a 15 MB per month cap remains for free apps. It also now supports "network connected games." McKerlich: "We are still lowering our barriers. We did start from a conservative posture, and we've gotten a bunch of great feedback."

?On Advertising: One thing that did not change was the ability to integrate advertising into an application if a developer wanted to give it away for free. McKerlich: "We are still working on it, but we didn't get it there yet?Part of it is, it's a little harder to do than we thought." He said some of the considerations they are taking include partnering with ad networks so that the inventory can be automatically available to developers who want to advertise.

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