American wireless carriers will continue adding subscribers at a healthy rate despite the global economic slowdown, according to a Strategy Analytics report.

Researchers expect overall wireless revenue to grow at a rate of 3.9% in 2009, down from 7.5% in 2008. The hit to revenue will be caused by lower ARPU (average revenue per user), as carriers compete to serve the needs of low-income and budget-conscious subscribers.

“Rather than just pushing prepaid as the perfect recession-proof tariff, carriers will work to make postpaid plans more attractive to budget-conscious customers who are re-examining their cellular spend,” explained Strategy Analytics’ director of wireless research, Phil Kendall.

“The year 2009 will see heightened competition between AT&T Mobility and the new number one, Verizon Wireless - fresh from its acquisition of Alltel,” predicted senior analyst, Susan Welsh de Grimaldo. “These two will jockey for technology leadership on Long-Term Evolution (LTE), push wireless connectivity in consumer electronics devices and increasingly represent a larger share of total subscribers and service revenues.”