MOBILE TELECOMS: HIGH-TECH AND EMERGING MARKETS THE KEYS TO GROWTH.

What is certain is that the success of mobile telephony's high mass shows no sign of waning, the 2006 event boasting 40% more exhibitors, and with reservations already being taken for 2007.

From Microsoft to MTV and the body promoting France's Cote d'Azur, many enterprises ostensibly outside the mobile telephony realm were nevertheless in attendance, once again demonstrating the appetite of industry as a whole for this fast-growth sector, a sector whose average revenue per user (ARPU) is set to increase further over the coming years with the continued expansion of mobile content: internet, music, videos...

From round tables to training sessions, sector representatives racked their brains throughout the Congress to identify the so-called "killer application", "the" miracle content that costs little but earns a lot.

The latest pretender is live television on mobile phones, due to be launched in Europe using DVB-H technology, an adaptation of digital television for mobile phones. According to initial tests, users would be ready to pay between euro 8 and 10 a month for such services (see separate article in this issue).

Another potential "killer application" is Internet-inspired instant texting, on which fifteen of the worlds leading operators made a commitment at the Congress, pledging to develop compatible systems.

This technological bravura contrasts with the numerous Internet connection problems and indeed electricity cuts experienced by many journalists covering the Congress. Far from these high-tech services, hardware manufacturers and...