Mobile messaging 'still top earner in 2011'

Messaging will still be the top money-earner and non-vocal use for mobiles in five years' time, research reveals.

Mobile content and services usage is predicted to pick up over the next five years, with revenues rising from €2bn in 2006 to €9bn in 2011 across Europe. But messaging will remain the dominant source of non-voice revenue, according to analyst house JupiterResearch.

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Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of premium mobile services revenues will come from messaging in 2011 with MMS, email and instant messaging more than offsetting the decline in good old-fashioned SMS text messages.

Handset 'infotainment' - such as news and sports clips - will outperform older forms of mobile personalisation, including ringtones, earning three times as much revenue, Jupiter predicts .

However a previous report from the analyst house shows the majority of European consumers - some 68 per cent - are not interested in paying for any data services outside text and picture messaging.