Based on its work with mobile operators and leading content providers, Bango, the world's largest channel for mobile content, predicts that the overall UK mobile content market will grow by between 50 and 100% in 2005...

The mobile operator portals will grow to the largest share of mobile content revenues. This will be driven by them being the first place millions of new users visit to become familiar with mobile content and new services in a 'browse and buy' environment.

Other branded "off-portal" sites, using this attractive 'browse and buy' model established by the operator portals will be the fastest growing segment of the market in 2005. As a result, message-based "one shot" content sales will suffer a significant impact and start to decline in 2005, as they are unable to compete with WAP based interactive services or to benefit from new, customer-friendly billing systems.

New billing systems, including Simpay - the mobile payment scheme founded by Orange, Telefónica Móviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone - will arrive in 2005, further enriching payment options for 'browse and buy' services. This will result in less than 16% of content payments - excluding voting and SMS chat - being made through Premium SMS billing by the end of 2005.

Bango predicts that the future belongs to 'browse and buy' portals from both mass market and specialist brands that both offer a seamless payment experience and appeal to a multiple of interests. "It's like the Internet in 1997 when consumers learned how to do things in the trusted worlds of AOL or Compuserve," commented Ray Anderson, CEO of Bango.

"Then users began searching out specific sites that met their needs more precisely," he continued. "The foundations of strong mobile operator portals and user friendly billing systems will enable the same progress to happen on the mobile internet."

Bango also predicts that the arrival of 'browse and buy' in the mobile internet world will open the way for leading search businesses such as Google and Overture to expand their PC-only offerings into the potentially much bigger opportunity presented by the mobile internet.

----------------

Discuss the evolution of mobile content in the convergence era at In The City Interactive with NMK on June 7th at the ICA, London.

About Bango:

Bango has developed and deployed an open, global, infrastructure platform that enables content providers to market, sell and deliver their products and services directly to mobile phone users on all mobile networks using the mobile internet. This "off-portal" approach operates alongside the mobile operator's mobile content portals. Leading mobile operators including Vodafone, Orange, Telefonica and O2 work with Bango to accelerate the growth of their "off-portal" business. Content brands are adopting the Bango Service to engage with all of their existing and potential mobile customers directly - irrespective of mobile operator. www.bango.com For further information, email Sarah Keefe, Marketing Manager, Bango at sarah@bango.net