Don't dismiss mobile video

Video services delivered over mobile devices stand better prospects than many have predicted, according to the latest research, but where they are already being introduced they are still far from perfect.

Jan ten Sythoff, research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, reckons that video could end up as "instrumental" in driving up operators' all-important average revenue per user (ARPU) figures, in line with earlier hopes at the time of 3G-licence auctions, before the telecoms bubble so violently burst.

"If you're selling 3G to consumers, then selling video telephony is key - it's the one application that is enabled by 3G," he said.

The analyst house forecasts that mobile video services - currently only offered on a handful of networks; for example, in the UK by Hutchison's 3 - will be worth €1.6bn by 2007. The figure includes content services as well as person-to-person communication.

However, nothing should be taken for granted. Researchers at Pyramid in the US, for example, this week predicted that Americans will spend more on data services via Wi-Fi hot spots than 2.5 or 3G by 2007.

F&S' ten Sythoff added that getting video onto networks where it leads to revenues - as opposed to sitting on cutting-edge devices, as is the case now with a lot of snaps taken on camera phones - might not be easy.

He said: "That will depend on lower, attractive pricing, devices that work well and easily, and proper interoperability - I wouldn't be surprised if there were teething problems with interoperability with video [as with MMS], as there will be lots of different devices and networks to get right."

F&S' 'Analysis of the European Mobile Video Services Market' report is available now.