Mobile Communities and User Generated Content worth US$13.1 billion by 2011

The market for mobile communities and user generated content will be worth US$13.1 billion by 2011, with photo and chat based services being the top revenue generators, according to a new report from Informa Telecoms and Media and strategic partner, the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF).

"The meteoric rise of such sites as MySpace, Bebo and YouTube shows significant consumer demand for social interaction in the digital space," said Daniel Winterbottom, senior analyst at Informa and author of the report. "Adding mobility to these services represents a huge opportunity for mobile operators, who will benefit from a reduction in churn levels, as well as significant increases in data traffic," he added. To add further weight to the importance of this rapidly emerging industry, O2, the UK mobile phone giant, recently announced that it was examining options for getting Bebo onto its handsets, potentially emulating the US deal between Helio and MySpace.

"Mobile communities which combine user-generated content (UGC), branded content and always on user interaction are a key growth driver for the mobile entertainment industry," commented Patrick Parodi, Global Chair MEF. "Taking communities mobile combines entertainment and user interactivity on a new level, reinforcing the mobile handset's position as the leading portable entertainment device. We set up the MEF community initiative to focus on understanding the user behaviour and business models which harness these communities and have the potential to create over a billion dollars of value in the next 5 years."

Chat services currently represent the largest segment of the market, driven by the fact that they are handset agnostic and can be conducted over the most popular form of mobile data, SMS. However, as increasing numbers of photo and video enabled devices enter the market, the volume of users uploading images or clips is expected to grow significantly. In 2006, 46 million users are expected to submit video clips to services such as SeeMeTV or YouTube from their mobile phone, rising to 198 million by 2011.

The report goes on to detail further advantages to be gained from offering mobile communities. "The search and discovery process for mobile content has been poor in many cases," commented Winterbottom. "Enabling users to rate and recommend content to other members of their community has the potential to drive consumption and create an environment where cross-selling and up-selling is easily achieved."

But there are pitfalls that must be avoided if services are to achieve success. Moderation is vital to protect users and to adhere to industry guidelines, and may also protect against potential legal liability. Pricing is another key consideration. Mobile community services need to offer value to the consumer and also need to be priced to reflect the target demographic. Prohibitive and confusing data charges can only serve to stifle the growth of this segment. 

"Through working with Informa we've achieved the initiative's first aim, to size the market and raise the visibility of community applications within mobile entertainment," concluded David Le Douarin of Buongiorno, leader of the MEF mobile community initiative.  "Going forward we'll be addressing some of the key concerns such as moderation and IP-related issues."

The white paper analysing key findings from the report is exclusively available free to all MEF members. The full Mobile Communities and User Generated Content report is available from Informa Telecoms and Media, priced at £999.

About Informa Telecoms & Media

Informa Telecoms & Media is the leading provider of business intelligence and strategic marketing solutions to global telecoms and media markets.Driven by constant first-hand contact with the industry our 90 analysts and researchers produce a range of intelligence services including news and analytical products, in-depth market reports and Datasets focused on technology, strategy and content.

Informa Telecoms & Media also organizes more than 125 annual events, attended by more than 70,000 executives. In addition to the GSM>3G World Series, our events cover subjects as diverse as fixed and mobile operator strategy, technology, TV, mobile music and games.

Informa Telecoms & Media is always willing to work with journalists to provide stats, data or comment for articles.

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Kathryn Bushnell 

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About Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF)

MEF exists to represent the interests of its global membership across the mobile entertainment value chain. 

Our goals are to build awareness, create business development opportunities and facilitate the development of commercial guidelines and best practices to promote a healthy and profitable industry. With headquarters in London, a Hollywood-based Americas secretariat and the newly established Asia chapter, MEF's network of members represents a veritable 'Who's Who' of mobile entertainment businesses and entrepreneurs.

For more information and a full list of members please visit: www.m-e-f.org.