NEW YORK -- Since the last OMMA Mobile show in June big players such as Fox, Nokia, YouTube, MySpace, AOL, MTV and NBC have joined the mobile bandwagon and more are on their way.

Why have these giants all of a sudden put their faith into a channel that hasn't even gained total acceptance yet? Evan Neufeld, vice president of consulting and senior analyst at mobile measurement firm M:Metrics, presented data at MediaPost-organized OMMA Mobile to help answer that question.

"Mobile is part of the notion that mass marketing is dead," Mr. Neufeld told mobile marketers at the daylong event. "Marketers now understand that consumers need multi-modal consumption."

M:Metrics expects 87 percent mobile phone penetration in the United States by 2011, up from 73 percent today.

A key reason for the expected increase is because mobile is digital, targeted and personal.

"As convergence disrupts multiple sectors, the mobile phone emerges as the key personal connection to the digital world," Mr. Neufeld said.

Mobile phone usage has seen an 11 percent year-over-year growth.

Making another point, Mr. Neufeld said that the SMS, or text messaging, market is lagging in the U.S. However, it is extremely popular in parts of Europe and Asia.

Mr. Neufeld recommends marketers learn from international counterparts who are ahead of U.S. marketers in mobile marketing.

That said, text messaging is up 26 percent year-over-year nationwide and consumers are sending more photos and videos using their mobile phones.

"As the mobile channel evolves, so does the behavior of users," Mr. Neufeld said. "The percentage of news-text alerts has gone down year-over-year, as news and information downloads have become more popular."

M:Metrics data show that 34 million consumers are regular information browsers. Users ages 18-24 are twice as likely to be mobile Web users.

Mr. Neufeld said that weather information is the top mobile Web destination.

Also, the top sites browsed on the mobile Web are Google, Yahoo, Live, Go, MSN, MySpace, Wikipedia and Microsoft, respectively.

"An influx of enabled devices results in creation of content, viral distribution and linking the PC to mobile devices," Mr. Neufeld said. "Better pricing, devices and bandwidth are what are going to drive our industry forward."

More than 18 percent of mobile phone subscribers spend upwards of $100 on their phone bills every month. Fifty-eight percent have a data plan.

Mr. Neufeld said he was impressed with mobile campaigns done by Coca-Cola Co., Bose, Office Depot, Best Buy, Hyundai, J.C. Penny, British Airways and ABC News.