Wireless Transactions to Top $15 Billion in 2006: Yankee

Although almost non-existent in the U.S. now, shopping via cell phones will account for spending of some $15 billion in 2006, according to a recently released report.

Telecommunications analysts at the Yankee Group estimate that 50 million users of wireless phones will use those devices to OK payments for both Net-connected content and physical goods.

The group's report, "Mobile Payments: What Are They Worth?" estimated that phone-base transactions from those users - about 26 percent of all wireless users in 2006 - would represent between 2 and 3 percent of all non-cash transactions in the U.S.

The Yankee Group, of Boston, Mass., said the $15 billion figure for all wireless phone-based transactions could be significant for carriers, who are likely to skim a share of that take.

While the company said the carriers' shares of transaction revenues are likely to vary widely, an average cut of 10 percent would offer mobile-service providers an average increase in revenue of nearly 60 cents per subscriber each month by 2006.

"The ability and willingness of carriers to enable micro-billing will represent an expansion rather than cannibalization of the transaction pie," the Yankee Group said in a press release accompanying the release of its report.

"still, players in the existing payment industry should beware," it said. "In the long run, aggressive carriers will leverage their newly acquired experience with micro-payments, expanding their networks and their service offerings from telephony into payments."

www.yankeegroup.com .

--Reported By Steven Bonisteel, Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com .