Ringback tones continue modest growth; But operators see more potential for big payback.(News)

Byline: COLIN GIBBS

Full-track, over-the-air downloads have yet to gain any serious traction, and ringtones are so 2006. But when it comes to mobile music applications, U.S. carriers increasingly are looking to ringback tones to boost data revenues.

Ringback tones-music clips that a caller hears instead of a traditional ring before the person being called picks up the phone-continue to garner attention, according to new figures from M:Metrics, even as the U.S. ringtone market plateaus. The number of U.S. ringback subscribers more than tripled last year, the market research ...