German mobile Internet revenue set to soar -study

FRANKFURT, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Revenue from data services on mobile devices in Germany is expected to more than triple to 5.7 billion euros ($8.3 billion) by 2012 and sales from mobile advertising are seen rising at the same rate, according to the findings of an industry study.

German IT association Bitkom and Berlin consultancy Goldmedia said on Wednesday sales from mobile data, which hit 1.6 billion euros last year, will soar in particular thanks to mobile business services as well as mobile entertainment.

"Mobile video, mobile games, mobile music and mobile advertising alone will reach a market volume by 2012 of around 740 million euros," said Klaus Goldhammer, managing director of Goldmedia, which conducted the study.

"Mobile entertainment will generate 13 percent of overall revenue from data services," he added.

According to the study a large part of mobile entertainment is financed with mobile advertising and revenue from ads on mobile devices was expected to reach almost 300 million euros by 2012 compared with 96.9 million euros forecast for this year.

Bitkom forecast that within the next three years more than 60 percent of all mobile phones in Germany will have UMTS (3G) technology enabling Internet access on the go.

With a population of 82 million, Germany is Europe's biggest telecommunications market.

Mobile phone carriers are keen to see customers increase their mobile data usage with games, entertainment and Internet connections to compensate for a decline in prices for mobile phone calls. (Reporting by Nicola Leske; Editing by Greg Mahlich)