US : If mobile video providers are able to resolve a number of quality- and content-related issues -- and analyst firm Infonetics Research thinks they are -- revenue generated from mobile video services around the world is set to skyrocket from $46.2 million in 2005 to $5.6 billion in 2009, a staggering 11,997% jump in 5 years.

According to Infonetics' latest market outlook report, "Mobile Video Devices, Services, and Subscribers," mobile video is the wave of the future. But that wave won't crest until vendors and providers address a long list of difficult but surmountable challenges.

"The success of mobile video hinges on a number of factors, including the availability of handsets with reduced power consumption, value for the subscriber's money, ease of use, acceptable price points for multimedia handsets, and most importantly, the right selection of standard and unique channels, content, and services," said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband and IPTV at Infonetics.

"All of these challenges are within reason of being resolved quickly," Heynen continued. "Mobile video needs to replicate the home TV experience as much as possible, be it over broadcast (RF) or unicast (3G) mobile devices. The mobile video services available today leave a lot to be desired, but people are still subscribing because they're excited about the future of the technology. The convenience it provides outweighs its limitations."

Mobile operators are expanding the bandwidth of their existing 3G networks through HSDPA and MBMS, rolling out dedicated, RF-based broadcast networks, and deploying new mobile video service delivery platforms (SDPs), all steps that pave the way to offer the same content as we see on regular satellite, digital, or cable TV at home.

Infonetics' report indicates that sports will serve as a major content anchor for most mobile video service providers, as exclusive coverage will help drive advertising revenue, subscriber growth, and support for other prime time programming. In the US, Sprint/Nextel has a 5-year $600 million deal with the National Football League (NFL) to deliver highlights from the week's games and real-time updates of scores and player statistics. And in South Korea, Japan, and throughout Europe, mobile video operators who streamed and broadcast the 2006 World Cup games and highlights saw a huge spike in mobile video subscriptions. Infonetics says we can expect more of the same in the future.

Report Highlights

-- The number of worldwide mobile video subscribers will jump 8,006%
between 2005 and 2009
-- Asia Pacific leads with roughly half of the world's mobile video
subscribers and the largest portion of mobile video service revenue, every
year from 2005 to 2009
-- The number of mobile video handsets sold worldwide is expected to grow
from 28 million in 2005 to 336 million in 2009

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