Mobile Content Platforms

Operators are seeing data revenue exceed 30% of total service revenue as the ring tone market shifts from a primary ta partial revenue stream in a premium content mix that includes ringback tones, games, full track downloads and mobile video. Mobile gaming emerged first in Asia, expanded tEurope and is now growing dramatically in North America. Mobile videholds among the most significant potential.

The ecosystem of companies helping tenable content distribution continues texpand as well. The operator has a tremendous amount of power as they own the subscriber. The content companies have a lot of power as they own the content that individuals want. The other platform providers and the digital commerce service providers tend tget stuck in the middle, "bullied" at times. The revenue growth of the market participants reflects this reality.

"Mobile Content Platforms: Mobile 2.0 and Advertising Join the Party" covers the software platforms used tdeliver & monetize content tmobile handsets. The research contains five-year worldwide forecasts of global market revenue for video, music, gaming and images. The forecast for the emerging category of advertising in premium is included. The report alspresents market share in these areas for mobile operators, content providers and content-enablement companies. The report provides a further breakdown of revenue share for the content-enablement companies by revenue share of music including ringtone, ringtune, ringback, over-the-air full music track download, streaming music revenue by region. The report alscontains profiles of major mobile content enablement platform companies and trends and predictions for the industry.

While messaging continues tdominate data revenue and shows continued steady growth, mobile premium content is expanding its growth worldwide. By "premium content", MMI means discretionary entertainment content such as music, games and videthat a subscriber purchases, subscribes or rents.

Developed markets, such as Japan and Korea, have seen dramatic growth in premium content. Operators are seeing data revenue exceed 30% of total service revenue as the ringtone market shifts from a primary ta partial revenue stream in a premium content mix that includes full track downloads and mobile video. Mobile gaming emerged first in Asia, expanded tEurope and is now growing in North America. Mobile videholds the most significant potential, with current worldwide "on-network" mobile videsubscribers exceeding 9 million, according tMultiMedia Intelligence. Mobile videthough is still at its nascent stages. Broadcast mobile TV is still only selectively deployed on a country by country basis, capturing about 5 million users as of the end of 2006.

A service delivery ecosystem enables content distribution, manages billing, and demonstrates its own trajectory of continued growth. Four primary entities support the content provisioning process and provide value-added content thandsets: operators (alsreferred tas carriers); content creation companies; digital commerce service providers; and content enablement platform companies.

Conceptually, the process is straightforward. Content enablement platform companies provide the systems and infrastructure tmonetize premium content from the content originators over a mobile operator's network. Digital commerce service providers process the financial transactions and requisite reporting. Fundamentally, a mobile content enablement platform is the software and systems necessary tsell and deliver content ta handset. The platform has a handful of fundamental features: Partner management, Merchandising, Delivery and Fulfillment and Reporting and Data Evaluation.

Several significant market trends have arisen over the last year in the area of content platforms. The significant trends include:

• Movement ttarget the mass market
• Support of multiple funding models
• Enablement of mobile 2.0 features
• Support of multi-platform execution (as opposed texecutions on multiple platforms)

Four fundamental types of content are delivered thandsets: music, images, videand games. Music breaks intseveral sub-categories including ringtones (further divided intboth polyphonic and realtones), ringback tones, full track downloads and streaming music. MMI alscounts adult content, which combines and spans all four "media" major categories. Adult content has some unique features that drive us tforecast it as a separate category.

The imbedded advertising model for mobile videis in place and will serve tdramatically increase viewership. Clearly, consumers have accepted advertising in their subscription videstreams. Other forms of premium content such as games and music have not have not seen significant advertising inserts as of yet. This will happen but MMI does not see it is as a significant or measurable market within our forecast parameter.

In our estimation the size of the on-deck market will exceed the off-deck market. This reflects MultiMedia Intelligence's categorization of mobile TV as "on-deck."

Operators have tremendous power because they "own" the subscriber base. Clearly, content companies have considerable power as they own the content that individuals want. The other twentities tend tbe somewhat stuck in the middle, "bullied" at times. The revenue of the market participants reflects this dynamic.