Vodafone users in Western Europe now will need to prove they are over 18 before firewalls are lifted on adult websites or chat rooms.
A filter will be used to identify adult websites, and Vodafone customers will have to provide credit card data either online, by phone, or by visiting a customer service center to remove the filter.
Other Western European mobile operators, including Orange, mmO2 and Virgin Mobile, currently are working on similar devices to create age verification.
At May’s Adult Online Europe conference in Amsterdam, the companies said they are trying to find more revenue through the lucrative porn market.
Gartner, an industry research company, estimates that sexual content over mobile phones will generate $1.5 billion in revenue in Western Europe next year, or about 5.1 percent of the total market for mobile data.
“Wireless is the next great frontier," “Naked News” executive producer David Warga told XBiz last month. “This is just the next step in a logical progression.”
Toronto-based Naked Broadcasting Network Inc. recently signed a deal with Icemobile BV to provide "Naked News" content to wireless cell phones in Western Europe.
That deal is one of many that adult companies are making with next-generation wireless providers.
West Berkshire, U.K.-based Vodafone, for example, has introduced adult content through its “Vodafone Live” portal in 10 out of the 16 markets where the portal is available.
Netcollex, a British company that offers both soft and hard porn over cell phones, said that in 12 months it had signed up 67,000 customers to see a short porn video.
In the United States, however, the combination of porn and next-generation cell phones hasn’t yet caught on.
Several companies are planning to launch adult content through Internet-ready wireless phones, but have yet to actually do it.
Henderson, Nev.-based Mobile Media gave the service a beta testing in the first two months of the year, offering adult video from Canoga Park, Calif.-based Wicked Pictures on the Sprint PCS network, but the company has not yet launched the service.
Sprint PCS became the first telecom in the nation to offer TV broadcasts through cell phones using MobiTV, a service offered by Berkeley, Calif.-based Idetic Inc, which offers 14 mainstream channels ranging from ABC News to CNET to CNBC.
