Will Mobile Advertising Lead to Free Cell Phones?

Telecom News Editorials Reports Glossary

7:00 am on November 21, 2006 | Category: Business, Mobile Devices, Wireless, Cell Phones

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, predicted in a recent interview that mobile phones could eventually be offered at little or no charge to wireless subscribers that are willing to view targeted ads on their handsets.

Schmidt told Reuters last weekend that advertising will become an increasingly viable source of revenue and subsidy as cell phones continue their gradual transformation into fully-functional handheld computers.

“Your mobile phone should be free,” the CEO commented. “It just makes sense that subsidies should increase” as mobile advertising revenues rise.

Schmidt reports that Google is currently experimenting with the implementation of text, image, and video advertising on small-screen cellular phones in the Japanese market, where wireless video and e-commerce technology is advanced.

Mr. Schmidt says that Google has no plans to distribute free phones directly in the foreseeable future, and acknowledges that mobile phones may never become totally free to the consumer. He notes, however, that although most daily newspapers still aren’t totally free, the presence of advertising has made them a lot less expensive.