• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 25, 2008

Mobile TV subscribers, still a fledgling group in the U.S., will rocket to 462 million by 2012 across the globe, according to new research.

Driving the growth, according to ABI Research, will be the expansion of 3G networks, which provides for the video transmission and the expansion of flat-rate plans for content.

"Mobile operators' sustained investment in video delivery will continue to be rewarded by subscribers' growing adoption rates, particularly as they upgrade to new video-capable handsets," said ABI Research's Mike Wolf. "Consumers are being increasingly enticed by better experiences through more powerful and larger screens, as well as by a widening array of subscription options."

The research firm said the Asia-Pacific region will drive much of the worldwide expansion, with more than half of the projected 462 million mobile TV customers in 2012 (260 million, up from 24 million last year).

"South Korea and Japan will continue to lead worldwide, while some countries in Western Europe will also continue to see strong growth," Wolf said. "North America will also see some strong uptake as more services become available in 2008 with the launch of AT&T's MediaFLO service, the continued expansion of Verizon Wireless' MediaFLO subscriber base and the growth of on-demand mobile video services."

The research would seem to contradict some observers who argue the jury is still out on whether consumers will hunger for video on modest-sized handset screens.