But in recent times, we find that there is a lot of noise being made about ring tones and diversified types of business activities evolving around them. From handset manufacturers, to network carriers and finally to the online service providers, special care is being taken at all these levels to ensure that the mobile phone users can get to enjoy some of the best tunes in the mobility marketplace!

The use of mobile phones has become a common phenomenon across the globe. This trend is nothing uncommon, with the faster lifestyles that we are leading and the increasing amount of time that we are spending at workplaces and away from family and friends. However, what is surprising is the wide popularity of a multitude of the latest ring tones among mobile phone users. Users are not only using the mobiles for their functionality in staying connected with their loved ones; they are using mobiles as well as mobile phone ring tones as a symbol of their social standing.

Different types of ring tones such as monophonic ring tones, polyphonic ring tones and real music ring tones are being downloaded by an ever-increasing number of mobile phone users across the globe. It has been observed that mobile phone users prefer a good ring tone over the corresponding song and often pay more for the ring tones than the original compositions. The overall business in the world for ring tones in 2004 was estimated to be around $4 billion dollars. From this statistic, it can be easily estimated that the global music industry gains a large percentage of its profits from ring tones alone.

As technology progresses, real tone ring tones and MP3 ring tones, which have better sound quality as compared to the monophonic versions and are better representations of the original tunes, are expected to become more popular. However, experts believe that there would be a simultaneous prevalence of solutions that would help users to create their own ring tones from original musical scores. Specific software solutions are expected to make their appearance in the mobility marketplace, which combined with MP3 capable phones, would assist users to transfer music from their collections to mobile phone handsets. As a consequence, the market for ring tones is expected to be divided between service providers offering ready made ring tones and those that would offer software for turning music into ring tones. However, the creation of ring tones from original music would be naturally more difficult than paying for and downloading the same into mobile phone handsets. Record companies and cell phone service providers must come to terms with these actual facts and become aware of the limitations that are expected to overshadow the business of ring tones to a significant extent.

As of now, the business of ring tones is doing quite well. Users are demanding the best in ring tones and are getting what they want. Telecommunication companies are making big bucks by selling ring tones and other content to mobile phone users. The mobile telephony marketplace is offering a wealth of opportunities to highly efficient providers of mobile content. The on-line firms are competing among themselves in assisting users to download some of the best ring tones and other content to their handsets. With an increase in the disposable income of a general consumer and the improvement in the quality of life of a representative individual of the global economy, this popularity of ring tones and their repercussions on the telecom market, should not come as a surprise to any one of us!