Mobile content and services valued at $150 billion in 2011

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The mobile content and services market will be worth $150 billion by 2011, fueled by

the mobile web and the arrival of new offerings that grab users' attention, according to research from Informa Telecoms & Media.

In just five years' time, almost half of all mobile subscribers worldwide will take advantage of mobile browsing capabilities, claims Informa.

These statistics back up findings published earlier this week by the Mobile Data Association, which said that the number of users accessing the mobile web grew during the last quarter of 2006.

More than 45 million mobile phone owners used their phones to download or browse the net in the UK during October, November and December last year, according to the MDA.

Against the backdrop of new services, messaging, particularly SMS, will still dominate market revenues in 2011, accounting for more than 62 per cent of income.

"Advanced mobile content and services have been slow to take off, but this belies the deepening relationship that we have with our mobile phones," said Daniel Winterbottom, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media and author of the 'Mobile Content and Services' report.

"We may not be buying as many games, full-track downloads or multimedia messages as operators would like, but we are spending a huge amount of time sending and reading text messages and organising our lives using the phone's address book, clock, alarm and calendar functions.

"Over time, users will warm to other data services as well. The mobile web is a prime example: WAP failed to take off when it was first launched, but five years on, more and more users have become comfortable with accessing news or other information on their mobile phones."

But this brave new world of content and services, while affording opportunities for new players, poses a threat to mobile operators as they struggle to keep control of the customer billing relationship, warns Informa.

"The arrival of the web on mobile handsets in 2007 and beyond will see users embracing the same content they take for granted on their PCs," added Winterbottom.

"Operators need to ensure they are firmly locked into this value chain or risk missing out on what will be an enormous market by 2011."

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