KEY POINTS:
Mobile porn could be a booming business in the United States, but phone carriers fear a public backlash.
Adult content for cellphones is expected to become a multi-billion dollar industry in the next few years.
The American porn industry has been unable to deliver adult content due to telecommunications companies; sex film producers complained to the Digital Hollywood conference last week.
Mobile carriers in Europe, where phone porn is very popular, are capable of blocking minors from viewing unsuitable content, but no American carrier has an age verification system built into its network.
Tech specialist firm Juniper Research says that between 60 and 80 percent of Internet traffic is sex content, and that will turn into a $3.3 billion ($NZ4.3 billion) global mobile industry by 2011.
It seems as if comments about the conservative cellphone carriers at last week's conference are well founded.
Canadian carrier Telus slipped into the market earlier this year, using an age-restricted system and not openly publicising the fact that explicit content was available through its network.
Less than a month later, after a high profile protest from the Catholic church led to shareholders dumping stock and lawsuits from customers, Telus' porn service was turned off.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
