US : Tiny TVs have been around for decades without having much impact. That's about to change, according to a new study from ABI Research. New technologies mean that in the next few years, mobile phone users will be able to watch high quality, full-motion video on their small screens.

Subscribers will also be able to access linked content, and buy program-related products and services from their wireless service providers.

Ken Hyers, the firm's principal analyst of global wireless operator research, says that the new services will be based on a one-to-many model like conventional broadcast TV, rather than using the restricted bandwidth of mobile data networks.

Next month these "digital video broadcast networks" will launch in Japan and South Korea, with similar services to debut in the US, Europe and elsewhere in late 2006/early 2007. The content will largely mimic that of the short clips now available from some mobile services: news headlines, sports, children's programs, drama "Mobisodes" and music videos.

Mobile broadcast video networks won't be run by mobile operators. In the US, QUALCOMM and Crown Castle are launching the first services. Mobile operators will profit by providing "enhanced content": over the cellular network, users can go back to the operator and buy "stuff" - ringtones, sports statistics, fan club materials and more - linked to the topic they've just viewed as TV. The list of revenue opportunities is huge.

"This is going to be spectacular," says Hyers. "It's going to be worth a lot of money. It's not an understatement to say that this is going to be a new goldmine for wireless operators."

The study, "Mobile Broadcast Video," explains the technology behind mobile video broadcast services, the companies involved and the revenue opportunities that will be created. It will be followed by another report, "Mobile Television," which approaches this market's requirements for ICs and software.