Mobile Content Russia

Mobile Internet and smutty content is worth millions of dollars to operators. In the first half of 2006 the mobile services market grew 36% to 882 million dollars. Experts do not foresee any slow in the growth of this sector before the end of the year, by which time profits from non-voice services will have topped 1,5 billion dollars, mainly thanks to pornography enthusiasts.

Mobile Internet was the fastest growing non-voice sector in the mobile services market for the first six months of 2006, with a growth of 73%.

The mobile content market, including images, ringtones, music and suchlike, is also showing significant growth. In comparison to the first half of 2005 when the net value of the sector was around 210 million dollars, the sector has grown by 58%. ComNews Research forecasts that the market will garner 470 million by the end of 2006, and will top the one-billion mark by 2010.

For Russian operators, the percentage of income from additional services has risen to 14.2%. Compared to the same period last year, profits from additional services were up by 36% in the first six months of 2006.

The number of visitors to Russian WAP sites has doubled. 87% of Russia's 16 million internet users now use WAP.

"The mobile Internet sector is growing faster than traditional Internet access," notes Oksana Pancratova, director of ComNews Research.

In the first half of 2006, the overall value of the mobile services market in Russia stood at 882.3 million dollars. Experts forecast that profits from non-voice services will top 1.5 billion by the end of the year. ComNews Research notes that the growth rate will halve in 2007, but still remain high at around 30 to 40%.

The growth of the mobile Internet is linked to the popularity of WAP technology, which allows specially-made internet sites to be viewed on mobile phone screens. The number of visitors to such sites in Russia has doubled in one year, and now 87% of Russia's 16 million internet users use WAP. Over the last 18 months, the number of Russian WAP sites has increased by 100% to 50,000.

Experts link the increased popularity of WAP to the introduction of WAP 2.0, and the increased coverage of GPRS and EDGE services.

Additionally, WAP's increasing popularity is linked to the appearance of inexpensive smartphones with large screens. A ComNews Research report states, "The development of telecommunication devices supporting WAP is a major driving force behind the growth of the mobile Internet market."

Pornographic WAP sites still remain the most popular in Russia. Games and chat also get a good look in.