(23 January 2006 7:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The 2006 football World Cup in Germany represents an opportunity to promote 3G.

However it will be established content, such as text-based services that will generate the most significant revenue. That is the opinion of a study World Cup 2006: Scoring with mobile content and services published by research company visiongain.

The study found that the one-month long tournament will generate $6.35 billion in revenue, with text-based services and downloads, such as ringtones and logos, the most significant.

After these services, the study found that gambling and gaming will be the next most profitable World Cup-related content. The industry will also look to generate revenue through interactive video messaging, video clips and even blogging services.

In India the event will air on ESPN Star Sports (ESS).

The report notes that the telecom industry has the potential to generate significant revenue from the 2006 World Cup. However, operators aiming to utilise the tournament’s popularity to push 3G at the expense of more traditional services will miss out. The key revenue generators will be tried and tested text services, ringtones and logos.

The dynamics of the market will also contribute to the strategy chosen. Nations that have qualified for the World Cup will have different strategies available due to the merchandising opportunities opened by having the national team on board. However, visiongain believes that there are still significantly higher than normal revenues to be generated in many nations that have not qualified.

Operators and vendors will push 3G technologies at the World Cup in an attempt to increase subscriber interest. They will also use it as an opportunity as a test-bed and showcase for new services, such as mobile broadcast TV.

The content of the World Cup lends itself well to highlights clips, which operators have been busy purchasing the rights for, as well as mobile gambling. In addition, the event presents a perfect opportunity for operators to promote 'user communities', which are in this case tied to a particular national team.

Video streaming will be pushed to promote 3G services, particularly in Europe where 3G operators are still looking to repay the vast sums spent on licences.