The global market for mobile video services offers great potential, but is in a state a flux and will take "quite a few years" to settle down, according to researchers.

In-Stat noted that the potential commercial opportunities of mobile video are huge, but that fragmentation in the industry, and in the markets, may make it difficult for any one firm to reach the economies of scale required to make mobile video a worldwide phenomenon.

"We are more likely to see geographic regions developing their own local approaches, and we will even find some country-specific versions," said In-Stat analyst Gerry Kaufhold.

"Each geographic region is developing differently, and all technology approaches are in play."

The analyst firm's Mobile Video Infrastructure report said that mobile handsets are only one way to receive mobile video services, and that PCs, portable media players, navigation systems and other devices are all in the mix.

According to the study, all competing methods must still interoperate to provide a profitable mix of broadcast, premium and pay-per-view TV, as well as on-demand video.

In-Stat estimates that the worldwide value of the equipment used by transmission sites for broadcast-specific overlay networks will have a worldwide value of about $216m during 2011.