BRIC mobile owners use net for entertainment: Sielson study

Mumbai, Aug 14 (UNI) Entertainment-themed websites are the most popular with mobile internet users in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries, unlike the US and European markets who prefer information and news related sites, revealed a research conducted by Nielson.

The findings suggest that mobile internet users across BRIC countries are more reliant on their mobile phones for entertainment content. Conversely, users across the US and Europe use their devices as a resource for information with e-mail, weather, news, and search sites topping the categories for both the American and European mobile internet markets.

In the US, entertainment, music, and games come in at a distant eighth, ninth and tenth places respectively.

''Users in the growing Brazil, Russia, India and China markets haven't had the benefit of broad-based content distribution thereby limiting their exposure and are filling the service gap by embracing mobile's transition into a personal entertainment platform,'' Nielsen Vice President Jeff Herrman observed.

The research also revealed that mobile internet is continuing its growth worldwide. In Russia, more than 11 per cent of mobile users have accessed the internet on their mobile device, trailing only the US, the UK and Italy. China came in next at 6.8 per cent and at par with Germany, followed by Brazil at 2.6 percent and India at 1.8 percent.

''Mobile fills an important access gap in nations where Internet access is not always readily available in homes and schools. The development and uptake of mobile data services will have a tremendous positive impact on economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China,'' Mr Herrman said.

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