Advanced Data Users Comprise Nine Percent of Mobile Population, but Drive 63 Percent of Streaming TV and Almost Half of Online Game Usage

SAN FRANCISCO — February 13, 2006
Telephia, the leading provider of performance measurement information to the mobile industry, reports that Innovators, who are the most sophisticated and advanced mobile consumers, account for a disproportionately high share of streaming TV, online game play, video calling and full-track music download users, as compared to the overall mobile population in the U.K. Analysis of data service adoption patterns from the latest Telephia UK 3G Report for Q4 2005 shows that mobile consumers fall into three consumer adoption segments—Innovators, Early Adopters, and Mainstream Consumers.

Comprising the smallest proportion of advanced data users at just nine percent, Innovators, are the heaviest users of advanced data services, with initial adoption occurring rapidly after the launch of the service. Innovators over indexed the most with streaming TV with a score of 700, accounting for 63 percent of streaming TV users (see Table 1). Online game play posted an index of 530, which represents 48 percent of online game play users. Video calling users had an index of 460, reflecting a 41 percent share, while full track music downloaders claimed an index of 360, comprising a 34 percent share.

Early Adopters, who make up 20 percent of advanced data users, are the second heaviest users of advanced data services, adopting after penetration has occurred in the Innovator segment. Video clip downloads, video calling, full track music downloads, and video messaging indexed the highest with Early Adopters, with an index range of 180 to 210. Mainstream Consumers represent 71 percent of advanced data users and their adoption occurs long after the service has been launched. The services that indexed the highest with Mainstream Consumers were those that have been around the longest, such as Internet browsing and game downloads securing an index of 90 and 60, respectively.

“Advanced data services activity in the U.K. is following the classic pattern of adoption—first gaining traction within the technologically savviest group and then spreading across the rest of the majority,” said Kanishka Agarwal, Vice President of New Products, Telephia. “Time plays a critical factor, as the services with an established utility from an extended period on the market are first to gain the most from the mainstream audience, who demand products and services that are relatively glitch-free.”

“As the 3G pipe is optimized for these services and becomes further penetrated, we’ll see mainstream wireless consumers begin to exploit the more highly developed features of their cell phones,” added Agarwal.

Consumers Demand Mapping Services and Network TV Content on Their Cell Phones
According to Telephia, 37 percent of current advanced data service consumers would be most interested in a location service and route finding application on their mobile phones (see Table 2). Twenty-three percent of users were interested in a full range of network TV content available on their wireless devices, while 17 percent showed an interest in connecting to the Web via WiFi hotspots. Mobile file-sharing and wireless advertisements rounded out the top five features consumers wanted to access in the future.

The Telephia UK 3G Report focuses on the device and application experiences of existing 3G users as well as the drivers of 3G adoption among 3G intenders. The report is based on a semi-annual survey of nearly 4K wireless subscribers in the U.K., tracking key industry performance metrics such as brand and device market share, brand consideration and retention, consumer satisfaction, retail dynamics, subscriber acquisition, user profiles, feature usage and preferences. Measuring mobile activity in Europe with the European Subscriber and Device Report since early 2004, Telephia is the only source for accurate, historical research on wireless consumer usage, behavior, and attitudes.

About Telephia
Founded in 1998, Telephia provides syndicated performance measurement information to the leaders of the converging communications and mobile industries, including carriers, device manufacturers, content and application providers, retailers, infrastructure vendors and investment analysts. Telephia is the industry standard measure of subscriber share, customer satisfaction, device share, network quality, revenue share, advertising effectiveness, content audience and many other key performance indicators.

For further information, please visit our website at www.telephia.com or call 415-395-0500.

Press Contact: Maria Bumatay
e: mbumatay@telephia.com
p: 415.637.4904