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Downloadable ring tones have been popular in Europe and Japan for some time. Now, U.S. carriers are scrambling to take advantage of the trend.
VoiceStream Wireless Corp. started offering ring tones in May 2000, when it introduced a host of wireless Web services through its personal portal, MyVoiceStream.com. Cingular Wireless introduced them last June along with its "wireless wallet" mobile commerce services. AT&T Wireless began selling them, along with graphics, that same month, and now has a library of 650 tones from which to choose.
Not to be outdone, fast-growing Sprint PCS recently unveiled its offering, "Ringers and More," and is providing three months of free service to new subscribers. Even TeleCorp PCS, an AT&T Wireless affiliate, is getting into the act with ring tones and icons for its SunCom customers.
Each ring tone download costs only a dollar or two, but if their popularity explodes here as it has in Japan and Europe, carriers could feel a decent revenue boost. Targeted primarily at teens who crave the latest thing, the trend also could drive wireless penetration beyond its current 45 percent.
Besides helping customers figure out whose phone is ringing in a room full of wireless gadgets, distinctive ring tones are part of the trend of personalizing devices that are carried around night and day. "There's this whole self-expression thing beginning to resonate," says Adam Guy, senior analyst with the Washington, D.C-based Strategis Group, which recently surveyed U.S. teens about their wireless preferences and found a relatively high demand for ring tones.
Aside from adding a personal touch to an inanimate device, ring tones are viewed as a means of easing U.S. customers into making purchases over wireless phones. With so much offered for free over the wired Web, it hasn't been easy to change consumer attitudes. But since ring tones are so cheap, there's a lot less at risk for consumers. "You're enabling them to dip...