Professor Jeffrey Cole reckons that before too long we will be watching several hours of video programming on our mobile phones. At a conference in Sydney, Australia, he told digital marketers to expect a major shift to mobile video.

We all know that video has taken off online – YouTube came from nowhere, for instance, to become a major force on the Internet. But the notion that we will shift our focus from watching TV “in the lounge” to “in our hand” appears somewhat fanciful. After all, this is what the mobile phone companies hoped for when they paid billions to get those much desired 3G licences. Yet, several years later still only a tiny percentage of people actually use video services on their 3G mobile phones. Most people still use their mobile phones for – well – phone calls…!

However, Professor Cole points to a major survey which is looking at trends and the curve is definitely on the up. The momentum for people wanting to use their mobile phone as their replacement TV is clearly picking up speed – and fast.

It means that people will expect information delivery via mobile video and that means your business needs to deliver through this method if you are to gain any market share. Sitting back and saying that the mobile market is so tiny compared with information delivery on the Internet is no longer an option. Clearly, the rush towards mobile video is picking up speed and online business owners need to start owning some of that space. If not, enterprising individuals will take the opportunity and will steal your customers.