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ESPN Providing Niche Mobile Entertainment Services

4:00 am on January 3, 2006 | Category: Business, Telecom Services, Wireless

Just as they did with cable TV in the 1970s, ESPN is attempting to break into the cell phone market with targeted niche mobile services.

They are hoping to attract users to their service with the promise of greater selection and more comprehensive entertainment features. ESPN hopes to use its huge bank of exclusive audio and video content to lure customers away from more established wireless carriers like Cingular, Verizon, and Sprint.

And ESPN isnâ€™t the only company trying to capitalize on this sort of â€œupscaleâ€ cellular service. A variety of smaller companies and partnerships have sprung up in the past couple of years to provide more comprehensive cellular entertainment solutions.

The cost of these niche services is, of course, somewhat higher than one would pay for a basic cell phone. Compatible handsets often cost as much as $400 with a $65 cost for monthly service.

Customer response is good, however, with about 12 million subscribers already signed up in the US, generating a total of about $3.5 billion in annual revenue. Yankee Group analyst, Marina Amoroso predicts that this will grow to about 29 million subscribers and $10.7 billion in annual revenue by 2010.

These sorts of numbers are showing us just how important customization and personalization is to some people. Mobile entertainment has taken on a life of its own, and is quickly becoming just as important to many customers as the core voice functions available with any mobile phone.

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