Mobile entertainment bonanza ahead

The market for online entertainment could be worth $42.8bn by 2010, according to analyst group Informa Telecoms & Media. 

Most of the growth will be in mobile music and gaming, both of which will be worth about $11bn by the end of the decade. Gambling is expected to bring in another $6.2bn, with mobile TV and downloadable files making up the rest of the revenue.

"The growth of mobile music has been astounding, from a cottage industry making basic monophonic ring-tones in 1998 to a multi-billion dollar global business on which the music industry is staking much of its future," said Simon Dyson, co-author of the Informa report.

But experts have cast doubt on the survey findings. "This seems very optimistic for a five-year prediction," said Rachel Lashford, an analyst at mobile communications specialists Canalys. 

"The growth of this market relies on what catches the public attention and, given the competition for things like MP3 players and phones, the market could return a lot less."