Metric: US carriers heavily segmented

According to a new report from M:Metrics, the major US carriers are more heavily segmented than previously thought. Carriers such as T-Mobile and Sprint have high percentages of younger subscribers, particularly those between the ages of 18-34, the biggest consumers of mobile content. Consequently both carriers claim a higher than average rate of mobile content sales, particularly for gaming, photo messaging, and SMS messaging. In fact, an 18-year-old male who downloads mobile games is more than twice as likely to be a Sprint subscriber.

Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless, however, more closely reflect the mass market and attract subscribers 45 years of age and older. Cingular and Verizon subscribers are less likely to purchase mobile content. Nearly 56 percent of all US mobile phone subscribers older than 65 are customers of either Cingular or Verizon. Nextel Communications, on the other hand, is even more niche than Sprint or T-Mobile. Nextel subscribers are 47.4 percent more likely to be a 35- to 44-year-old male compared with subscribers on other networks. Nextel also has the highest percentage of subscribers whose household annual income tops $100,000 per year.

For more on M:Metrics' carrier numbers:
- see this press release