Bypassing the carrier

Consumers are loosening carriers' tight grip on mobile networks when it comes to the content ecosystem, according to a recent study by ABI Research. As user-generated content continues to gain traction concurrently with mobile video growth, wireless users have an ever-growing number of options for their media enjoyment — and they aren't afraid to use them.

Today's consumers access a mix of mobile content from the Web, personal collections and their wireless carriers, and according to Michael Wolf, research director for ABI, this diversity is greater on the mobile phone than on any other device. A survey of wireless users found that of the 14% who use their phones to watch video, 35% use Web sites such as YouTube, and 31% use a carrier's service. Another 28% most frequently sideload video to their handsets.

The study found that today's mobile consumer is more likely to watch a video from YouTube on a phone than a video from the carrier's own service. For music, however, the consumer is more than twice as likely to obtain ringtones from the carrier than from any other source. For gaming, another popular revenue generator, six in 10 mobile gamers only use those options that come with their cell phones.

The diversity of methods for accessing content isn't necessarily bad news for carriers. ABI expects to see increased content acquisition directly to the phone from the Web. Wolf said carriers ultimately will benefit as they open up their networks and handset platforms and look at taking advantage of increased advertising-supported content delivery.