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3G mobiles widen market for adult content By Mark Fernandes For The Prague Post (July 22, 2004) Forget erotic wallpaper and archaic striptease Java games. The multifunctionality of "3G" (third generation) mobile phones can make any technophile drool, and telecommunications providers and porn outlets are poised to cash in on the sexier aspects of the technology. Available in the United States and much of Europe since last year, a 3G device allows users to basically carry a mini-PC in their pockets, capable of video calling, Internet surfing and MP3 downloads. With technology that allows for constant Internet connection, high-resolution pictures and video, and data exchange at 384 kilobytes per second -- much faster than the current Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) -- the new mobiles open up a ripe new market for the adult content that now makes up so much Web traffic. Although the arrival of 3G has been slow here, media and telecommunications companies predict a big payoff from the arrival of mobile pornography. Moving east That market is already exploding. Gartner Group, an industry research company, estimated that sexual content will make up about 5 percent of mobile data transfers in Western Europe next year, generating $1 billion (26 billion Kc) in business, compared to $87 million for the entire Continent in 2002. "Adult content is a big share of what is on the Internet," said Stephanie Pittet, a mobile wireless analyst with Gartner. "It is a big trigger to the development of the Internet and the same goes with mobile services. I believe adult content is a big generator of interest in mobile Internet today." And the new technology is steadily moving east. Last year Eurotel launched 3G services in Slovakia under the brand name SuperSpeed. 3G is also available in Hungary, Lithuania and Croatia. But access in the Czech Republic has been slow. Eurotel and T-Mobile have secured licenses from the Czech Telecommunications Office to offer 3G service here, with launches initially set for January 2005. Late last year, however, the carriers reached an agreement with the government to delay the rollout by a year, due in part to the costs of the licenses ($97 million for Eurotel and $106 million for T-Mobile). By comparison, in Slovakia, Eurotel, Orange and local ISP Profinet each shelled out only $35 million. The high costs, however, haven't stopped phone companies here from rolling out flashy new devices. Nokia, Siemens and Ericsson have all been coming out with an unending stream of sexy new-model 3G phones. Along with the new phones, service providers have begun to offer racey content. Eurotel currently offers so-called 'soft erotic content' via MMS, spokeswoman Diana Dobalova said. But she added that it was too premature to speculate on what kind of sexual material the company might offer 3G customers, noting only that Eurotel would abide by the terms of its licensing agreement, which differentiates between soft core and porno. While Eurotel does not offer porno, it does offer erotic content such as video and MMS with photos and erotic chat through its "Eurotel Live!" portal. Profit potential Third-party providers, however, are already jockeying for position in the mobile market. Jana Soukupova of Prague-based MP Media is upbeat about the profit potential of mobile-phone porn. "The adult business is driving new technologies ahead," Soukupova said. "Mobiles can bring in a lot of money if handled properly." MP subsidiary XXXProvider has already signed up clients in several countries where 3G is available, including the UK, Germany, Austria and the Scandinavian countries, offering hard-core pictures, videos and SMS chats. In the Czech Republic customers of XXX Providers can use their old 2G phones to access adult pictures and erotic wallpapers, but they don't have the ability for fast video streaming. In April XXXProvider took part in Adult Online Europe (AOE), a conference in Amsterdam that attracted several Czech companies, Aliatel and other adult service providers. Interestingly, some of the biggest names in mobile communications, including Vodafone, Orange, mmO2 and Virgin Mobile, also attended. Soukupova said the conference was a good way for adult-content providers to hook up with mobile operators. "The interest and contacts from Central and Eastern Europe are on increase, as proved during the last [AOE conference] in Amsterdam this April," she said. "When we go to the expos, we see many different mobile companies there each year." Bena Roberts of IT research house Current Analysis said several European mobile operators are offering adult content, among them O2 UK, Orange UK, T-Mobile Germany, Telefonica Moviles in Spain and Vodafone Portugal. Italian operator Wind makes up to 80 percent of data revenues from its sex channel, dating and flirt SMS services. As porn gains ground in the mobile market, however, Roberts urges operators to exercise some restraint. In a report titled "Adult Content: Social Responsibility vs. Revenue Gain," she suggests carriers educate parents about adult content and let users decide what is appropriate. Operators should consider banning the use of adult-content services for prepaid users or follow the German option of having kid-friendly mobile SIM cards that do not support adult content. Britain has a self-regulatory code for mobile operators who provide porn, and in June Ireland announced plans for a national registry of 3G phones to protect children from inappropriate content delivered on 3G devices. Petr Zeman, deputy director of international relations for the Czech Telecommunications Office, says that there are no plans to regulate content on mobile phones here. However, before consumers get too worked-up over 3G technology, Pittet from Gartner Group says that very few people are using 3G now, and that the 3G's share of the mobil data market will remain below 15 percent until around 2007.
Mark Fernandes can be reached at
business@praguepost.com
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