UK And Germany Lead 3G Adoption

Commenting on the changing face of the 3G industry, Herve Le Jouan, managing director of M:Metrics said: “The 3G market has reached a point where understanding of the audience for mobile content is absolutely necessary for mobile to evolve as a viable media channel.”

Subscribers to 3G services were found significantly more likely to capture and transmit video with their devices compared to counterparts on 2G networks. In the UK 18.9% of 3G subscribers have sent video from their handsets, compared to 9.8% in Germany.

3G users in the UK were found to be 9 times more likely to view video on their handsets, compared with owners of 2G devices, while German 3G users are 13 times more likely to view video than counterpart subscribers on prior generation networks.

M:Metrics claims that 3G networks attract early adopters and technology savvy users. Paul Good, vice president and senior analyst at M:Metrics explained: “Despite the varied new messaging options, 3G subscribers are still more likely to use SMS in comparison to non-3G users, so we are not seeing cannibalisation of SMS revenues, as some have speculated.”

He continued: “Instead, we see that they are sending SMS while being twice as likely to use mobile e-mail and instant messaging.”

New predictions from the Yankee Group forecast 3G subscriber numbers in the US to reach 28 million by 2008, up from the current level of 580,000 (see Direct Marketing Spend To Rise In 2006).

Juniper Research expects 3G technology to enjoy a surge in use, with world-wide subscribers predicted to reach over 300 million by 2010, up from 30 million in 2004.