A third of UK teens want to catch up with BBC programmes on their phones, but don't want to incur heavy bandwidth tariffs associated with streaming content, says new research from mobile industry analyst CSS Insight.
This presents a challenge to mobile operators, the study said, which face balancing demand for these services with the amount of bandwidth they consume, especially confronting an age group who expects the content to be free.
Regardless, CSS Insight said a mobile iPlayer will be the next catalyst in mobile internet growth.
At present, social networking is the driver behind industry growth, and at a 'phenomenal rate', with a third of young adults regularly accessing Facebook and Twitter from their mobiles.
Facebook, in particular, is popular among teens, who access their online profiles more times a month than Twitter, Bebo and MySpace combined.
A gender gap also exists, as it was shown that men are twice as likely as women to access the internet through the mobile phones.
Paolo Pescatore, author of the report and head of mobile content at CSS Insight, said the industry could do a better job marketing to women and "it needs more than pink paint to succeed".
Pescatore said: "The web is revolutionising the way people use mobile phones. Forget music downloads and video - social networking is what people want.
"Media owners and operators will have to find new ways to make money from their assets."
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