In September 2006, Compete reported on the marginal, albeit growing, interest in mobile TV and video products services online at Big-4 carrier websites. At the time, online consumers exhibiting interest in mobile TV and video services comprised just half of a percent of all Big-4 carrier website traffic.

Compete recently completed an online study surveying existing Big-4 customers regarding their interests and preferences around this new entertainment medium. Of 2,500 of customers surveyed, 13% indicated that they would be interested in watching TV and videos on their wireless phones, with men more likely to adopt (17%) than women (12%). When asked about specific content that they would be interested in watching, Big-4 customers reported that live TV was the most appealing.

The mobile TV industry has evolved since September, specifically with Verizon Wireless launching V-CAST Mobile TV during early March in select cities around the United States. Advertising and marketing campaigns promoting V-CAST Mobile TV have led to a 104% increase in consumers evaluating the service on VerizonWireless.com. Big-4 carrier interest in mobile TV and video has thus grown to almost 1% of all web site traffic, and looks to continue growing, with AT&T planning a live video service of its own in coming months and Sprint continuing to add channels to its own MobiTV lineup.

This early data bodes well for key players in the mobile TV supply chain, including the content networks, technology enablers, and of course, the wireless carriers and MVNO’s. Consumers, however, should prove to be the real beneficiaries as interfaces improve with the advent of more advanced multimedia handsets (iPhone anyone?), programming options expand with more content players getting into the mix, and the price inevitably decreases as competition heats up. This all adds up to a rosy future for mobile TV adoption if these early signals are correct. Stay tuned.

You air travelers out there know there are plenty of things that can go wrong between takeoff and landing. Whether it’s a seat that doesn’t recline, a tiny overhead where your overflowing “carry on” won’t fit, or a general lack of cocktail service on that 7am flight, sometimes you wonder if you’re better off taking the minivan.

Enter SeatGuru.com, a nifty website that has all the information about airplane travel you’ll ever need. Self-proclaimed as “the ultimate source for airplane seating, in-flight amenities and airline information”, SeatGuru’s claim to fame is an interactive seat map with denotations for good through poor seats as well as locations of bathrooms, exits and power ports for the road warriors. Simply choose the airline and specific airplane type, and you’ll be able to view the seat map for that flight.

Besides helpful seating tips, SeatGuru also offers information regarding in-flight food, drink, audio, video, child and pet services. Now all they need to do is label open seats next to single supermodels.

Mobile video has emerged as one of the hottest technologies in the wireless industry. All the major carriers have launched mobile TV services, and the investment community continues to pour money into enabling technologies. So far, consumers have responded with limited but growing interest.

Interest in mobile video on the Big-4 carriers’ websites increased 80% over the past year, yet still represents less than 1% of carrier website traffic, according to recent data from Compete, Inc. Overall, content including ringtones, games, wallpapers and applications represents a much larger 13% of total Big-4 website traffic.

Enhancing and marketing mobile video services’ ease of use will be crucial to converting novelty interest into mass market adoption. Mobile TV services feel complicated and expensive to most consumers. That can be remedied through stimulating viral marketing and communicating these services’ ease of use. Offering demos and tying the online channel into the mobile experience through content shifting and file sharing will help as well.

With advanced services like mobile television, carriers and key content players must both build awareness and educate consumers about the offerings. As consumers’ primary wireless research channel, the Internet offers companies a way to encourage that education process as well as benchmark, measure and continuously improve their approach.

You probably don’t know what MVNO stands for (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) or what an MVNO does (uses an existing wireless network, jazzes up the service and phone and markets under a different brand) but turns out you just might be a lot more familiar with an MVNO than you realized.

The idea behind the MVNO concept is that an existing brand or even a completely new brand can piggyback off an existing wireless network (think Sprint’s or Verizon Wireless’s) and create a more relevant wireless experience for very specific demographic or cultural segments. Amp’d Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA are music and pop culture-focused services with slick handsets for the rock and rollers. Boost Mobile targets the hip-hop and extreme sports crew. Disney Mobile offers parents the ability to monitor and control their child’s phone use and offers attractive family plan packages. Mobile ESPN caters to the hardcore fantasy sports and stat checking crowd. And there plenty more already out there or on their way.

So to recap, the MVNO gets cheap access to an expensive wireless network while their partner (again, think Sprint, Verizon Wireless, etc.) gets a share of their profits. MVNO life is good, right?

Not exactly. I don’t have a single friend that uses any of these services. I know, I know – I don’t have any friends to start with, but I haven’t even seen a stranger walking down the street using an Amp’d or ESPN phone. Have you?

However, it appears that MVNO’s are finally getting some notice. 40% of people are aware that ESPN offers some type of wireless service. 28% know that Disney offers the same. Awareness of brands without the luxury of a massive Fortune 100 company backing them, such as Helio and Amp’d, lag ESPN; however, it’s still impressive that 1 in 4 people have heard of the Amp’d service.

Now, all they need are some people who will buy them.