SAN FRANCISCO-Mobile text-based services are expected to ring up big revenues during the 2006 World Cup soccer tournament taking place this summer in Germany.
A new report from Visiongain predicts the month-long event will generate $6.35 billion in mobile revenue with text-based services and downloads, such as ringtones and logos, garnering the most significant share of revenues. Gambling and gaming also will be profitable World Cup-related content, the report noted.
“The telecoms industry has the potential to generate significant revenue from the 2006 World Cup,” said Adam Walkden, author of the report. “However, operators aiming to utilize the tournament’s popularity to push 3G at the expense of more traditional services will miss out. The key revenue generators will be tried and tested text services, ringtones and logos.”
Operators and vendors are likely to use the World Cup as a venue to promote third-generation technologies in an effort to raise subscriber interest in next-generation services and to test new services like mobile broadcast television, said the report. Visiongain predicts carriers also will promote user communities tied to national teams and video streaming.
