2005 was the year when music emerged as a driving force for the mobile
industry and in 2006 we see that focus shifting to TV, says to Mark Newman,
Chief Research Officer at Informa Telecoms & Media. But while operators are
reasonably clear about where they want to position themselves in the music
value chain, mobile TV is a fuzzy picture that could take years to unscramble,
continues Newman.

Of the mobile broadcast TV solutions on offer, digital mobile broadcast
(DMB) has stolen a march on the market and will be the technology of choice
for the next couple of years in a number of markets worldwide, comments
David McQueen, Principal Analyst, at Informa Telecoms & Media. Competing
broadcast technologies  DVB-H and Qualcomm MediaFLO solution may then be able to compete effectively, once complex issues such as regulation, capacity and
spectrum planning have been overcome, continues McQueen.

Added to this mix are the cellular network TV offerings, which may prove to be a cost-effective alternative for the operators once faster data networks are
rolled out and multicast solutions are implemented. Indeed, this option may prove preferable for operators a Korean mobile operator has already voiced fears that
mobile TV could erode future revenues from 3G.

Mobile entertainment in general is proving a tough nut to crack.  The slow
growth in mobile entertainment revenues, exacerbated by the difficulties of
forging strong relationships with content providers, is causing some operators
to question whether they should be in the mobile entertainment business at all.

There is growing interest in mobile search and discovery as operators realise their interests may be best served by helping their customers find content
they want rather than pushing specific content to them on their portal.
Nick Lane, Principal Analyst, Informa Telecoms & Media, explains: The massive
growth of mobile content lying outside operator portals means consumers now need
a way to find and make sense of it all this represents a huge opportunity for
established search engines that already dominate the PC Internet experience.
Companies like Yahoo!, exhibiting at the show for the first time, and Google  seem intent on replicating the success of their Internet pay-per-click
advertising model on the mobile internet.

Mobile location technology and application providers, meanwhile, are making a
surprising comeback at 3GSM this year. More than 150 million phones are in use
today with embedded GPRS technology that gives the potential to use location as
a context for services such as mobile search and discovery. Mobile location may
now start to fulfil some of its early promise, says Newman.

The emergence of the MVNO model has taken the whole industry by surprise in
the last 12-18 months and is having a significant impact on mobile markets in Europe and North  America. In Germany, Informa believes there could be as many as 50 MVNOs by the end of this year.  Many operators see the rise of MVNOs as
an opportunity to secure new revenues by selling wholesale network capacity and
retail strategies.  But whilst the MVNOs may extend operator reach, particularly
into niche markets where they are not traditionally strong, they are also forcing
them to review their underlying cost structures.

Despite all the excitement about new services and applications, it is worth
remembering that 3GSM is first and foremost a wireless technology show. As such,
much of the exhibition will be devoted to HSDPA, a new, even higher speed version
of 3G. Vendors will also be giving their visions of a roadmap to 4G. 

Gavin Patterson, Principal Analyst, Informa Telecoms & Media, explains:
"The arrival of HSDPA is an important milestone for the GSM community as, for
the first time, it will make broadband internet access a truly mobile experience.
Wi-Fi may have un-tethered the Internet, and helped to sell thousands of cups of
coffee, but HSPA will make the Internet a completely mobile experience." 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 to technology, strategy and content. Informa
Telecoms & Media also organizes 104 annual events, attended by more than 55,000
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.

www.3gsmworldcongress.com