Qualcomm and Teleepoch Enter Into a 3G CDMA Subscriber Unit License Agreement, October 6, 2007

MTN chooses Cambridge Broadband Networks for multi-service wireless network in Rwanda, October 6, 2007

Brazilian government to publish 3G bidding rules soon, October 6, 2007

KTF 3G service suffers from technical problems, October 6, 2007

Argentina’s Personal lunches 3G service in Rosario, October 6, 2007

Russia has it's first 3G network, October 6, 2007

AT&T could drop Alcatel-Lucent as 3G mobile network supplier, October 6, 2007

Enea Extends License Agreement with ZTE for 3G Handsets, October 2, 2007

LG to unveil premium handsets in Brazil, October 2, 2007

KTF 3G subscribers doubled in less than 3 months, October 2, 2007

3G policy in India will be non-uniform, October 2, 2007

- previous news

Mobile Music revenue reaches $251 million in 2005

March 29, 2006

The market for full track music downloads to mobile devices was twenty times larger at the end of 2005 than it was twelve months earlier, a new study from ABI Research has revealed. "Mobile Music Services" surveyed world markets for downloads of full music tracks, ringtones and ringback tones.

It found that global revenues from over-the-air (OTA) downloaded full track songs last year were $251 million, up from $12.4 million in 2004. ABI Research forecasts that by 2011 this figure will be $9.3 billion.

What drives a successful music download service? According to Ken Hyers, Principal Analyst, Wireless Connectivity Research, there are five prerequisites:

-- A 3G network capable of delivering the product;

-- A distribution mechanism: effectively a mobile music store that can deliver the content to the customer, verify that the handset can accept the content, and ensure that users are paying for it;

-- An agreement between an operator, one or more record labels, and possibly a content aggregator; (in North America, operators - there are currently only two in this field, Verizon and Sprint - tend to partner directly with record companies, while overseas, content aggregators are frequently included in the equation as middlemen);

-- A robust DRM scheme that also allows users to move tracks easily between devices; and

-- Handsets with sufficient memory and feature-sets to support music downloads and transfers. This demand pleases handset manufacturers, who are only too happy to build high-margin extras into their new products.

"You also need people willing to buy OTA content," Hyers adds. "Over-the-air downloads will be relatively less successful in North America because of the high penetration of PCs. Overseas (particularly in Asia), PCs are less prevalent and the mobile phone is more so. There wasn't even a Japanese iTunes store until Q4 of 2005. That's part of the reason KDDI sold 30 million mobile tracks last year in Japan alone."

"Mobile Music Services" examines the current mobile landscape and the role of music as a mobile service. It addresses specific topics including digital music downloads, ringtones, streaming music services, digital music codecs and DRM. Market forecasts are also included. This study forms part of several ABI Research Services: the Consumer Electronics Research Service, Mobile Operators Research Service, and Mobile Devices Research Service.