FierceMobileContent,  August 14, 2007

Market analysis firm Juniper Research forecasts mobile operator revenues from user-generated content will increase tenfold over the next five years, rising from $576 million in 2007 to $5.74 billion by 2012. According to Juniper, social networking services will account for 50 percent of that total, with the number of active mobile social network subscribers accelerating from 14 million in 2007 to 600 million in 2012. Much of the growth is expected to derive from developing markets where fixed broadband access is limited and mobile phones represent the primary means to access the Internet.

"Even though social networking sites are in their infancy, the exponential growth experienced by a number of mobile service providers--in some cases achieved primarily through viral marketing--would seem to affirm that there is huge potential in this area," said Juniper Research principal analyst Dr. Windsor Holden. "The key challenge now is for those providers to monetize that interest."

In related news, Canadian operator Rogers Wireless announced the addition of social networking service MySpace Mobile. The made-for-mobile application enables Rogers subscribers to manage their MySpace accounts via wireless handset, with functions including blogging, messaging, photo views and comments, and profile updates and editing. MySpace Mobile is available to Rogers subscribers with Sony Ericsson W580 and Samsung A516 handsets. "We are very excited to work with MySpace, global leader in social networking with 4.1 million users in Canada," said John Boynton, Rogers Wireless SVP and chief marketing officer.

At the same time, Boost Mobile announced mobile social software developer IceBreaker's Crush or Flush service is now available to the operator's 4.5 million subscribers, complete with a set of new features. Crush or Flush includes functions like anonymous chat, personalized profile filters and crush lists. Since launching in January 2007, the service has attracted more than 250,000 subscribers, most of whom typically access the service twice a week for 20 minutes per session. "IceBreaker is defining mobile social networking by creating software specifically tailored for the mobile experience," said Michael Robinson, IceBreaker CEO.