Will adult content drive mobile video adoption?

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: KEITH SHAW ON WIRELESS COMPUTING
DEVICES
07/28/05
Today's focus: Will adult content drive mobile video adoption?

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* What's the interest in mobile video?
* Links related to Wireless Computing Devices
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Will adult content drive mobile video adoption?

By Keith Shaw

Wireless carriers like Sprint and Verizon Wireless continue to
push video services over mobile phones to customers, regardless
of whether customers want it or not. I spotted a recent Verizon
Wireless ad touting a $99 VCast-enabled cell phone.

Everyone I've chatted with (including two hip Plantronics PR
representatives) has dismissed the usefulness of mobile video -
the general response I get is, "Why would I want to pay $x for
that?"

My anecdotal evidence now has some statistical backup. A recent
In-Stat mobile phone subscriber survey shows that one in eight
respondents are interested in purchasing mobile video services
from their wireless carrier. I guess 12.5% is actually quite
good, but it's unclear how many people were surveyed by In-Stat.
According to the same survey, two-thirds of mobile phone
subscribers "are not yet ready for video services on their
handsets," a number that hasn't changed from the previous year's
survey, the research firm says.

Still the company predicts that the number of subscribers buying
mobile video content in the U.S. will grow from 1.1 million this
year to more than 30 million by 2010. The firm suggest that
long-term loyal customers are the least interested in buying
mobile video, meaning it will be the hardest sell to those
customers who are the most valuable to the carriers.

Maybe pornography will help drive mobile video services, but the
issue of pornography on mobile devices is thorny to carriers. A
report by Informa Telecom says the market for erotic content on
mobile devices can be worth $2.3 billion by 2010, but this is
"highly dependent on mobile phone carriers and content providers
working with regulators" to provide age verification procedures.

The Informa report says that Vodafone and other operators in the
U.K. have taken a proactive approach to the issue, by making
sure that subscribers who want the content are age verified
properly. The report says that the introduction of age
verification systems in the U.K. has actually resulted in an
increase in traffic for adult content - possibly because
consumers are more likely to use services that they are
confident in.

In the U.S., mobile carriers are currently taking a "walled
garden" approach to all mobile content, which means that at the
moment there's not much erotic content traveling over mobile
phones here in the states. However, Informa says that consumer
pressure and succeeding direct-to-consumer channel strategies
will mean that the walled garden approach won't be around long
term. "Without controls, operators will find themselves being
used to distribute adult content whether they like it or not,"
the report says.

According to Informa, by 2010 there will be more than 114
million regular users of mobile adult content around the world,
with the stipulation that carriers have instituted the proper
controls.

It seems like the marriage of mobile video services that are
having difficulty finding a market, and the erotic content
providers, which always tends to generate interest in
technology, will be around for a while. At least in 2010.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. 2005 Salary Survey
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile4017>

2. Cisco nixes conference session on hacking IOS router code
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile4018>

3. Verizon joins managed security game
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile3788>

4. Schools battle personal data hacks
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile4019>

5. VoIP security threats: Fact or fiction?
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile3790>

Today's most forwarded story:

The ROI of VoIP
<http://www.networkworld.com/research/2005/071105-voip.html>
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Keith Shaw

Keith Shaw is Senior Editor, Product Testing, at Network World.
In addition, he writes the " Cool Tools
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/cooltools.html> "
column, which looks at gizmos, gadgets and other mobile
computing devices.

You can reach Keith at <mailto:kshaw@nww.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Tacit Networks
Network World Executive Guide: Staying Focused on the Moving
Target that is Storage

Keeping pace with evolving storage strategies, architectures,
and trends is not unlike keeping pace with your organizations
underlying capacity needs. From ILM strategies to SAN management
to the threat of those USB memory sticks, this Network World
Executive Guide will help you stay focused on the moving target
that is Storage. Register now and get a free copy of Network
World's Storage Executive Guide.
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=108910
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ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Wireless Computing Devices newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/mobile/index.html

Keith Shaw's Cool Tools:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/cooltools.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE
SIX TIPS FOR GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE

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interview, you would be wise to consider these tips for ensuring
you've got the right stuff to move ahead. Network executives
offer advice to help you gun for that next promotion and fatten
up your paycheck. Click here:
<http://www.networkworld.com/you/2005/072505-salary-side2.html>
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