The figure was reached in December, due to the shipments of more than 1 million mobiles during the month according to the Telecommunications Carriers Association.

The popular digital TV service, called OneSeg, allows Japanese mobile users to watch TV programs for free. The terrestrial broadcasts don’t have digital rights management software, making it easier for cell phone makers to add recording features into mobiles. Current phones can record a TV show onto a memory card to be viewed later.

OneSeg is also popular on laptop PCs, new car navigation systems and other portable devices including music and vide players.  The service is preferred in portable devices because it does not take as much processing power as conventional high-definition digital TV service.
 

Juniper projects that 120 million mobile users would receive broadcast TV services by 2012, up from less than 12 million in 2007.

"If companies are serious about achieving widespread adoption of mobile TV, it is essential for the mass market [...] to sample mobile TV services," said Dr. Windsor Holden, author of the report.

Juniper says that the U.S. will be the largest single market for mobile broadcast TV services in 2012, trialed by Japan and Italy.

Streamed TV packages will evolve to complement mobile TV, acting as an outlet for the "long tail" of minority viewing TV channels.

Advertising will add to an increasing proportion to overall mobile TV revenues, but will primarily be a supplementary revenue stream, with most services relying on both subscriptions and pay-per-view for the majority of revenues.

Mobile TV was found to be most popular among 25-34 year olds, as they have a high level of interest and acceptance of the medium. Forty-six percent of those who currently subscribe to Mobile TV are below the age of 35, and 65 percent are male. Males were more likely than average to have an interest in Mobile TV, while females were more likely to have little interest.

"While the use of Mobile TV is a growing trend among mobile phone users, its current devotees appear to be the early adopters of new technologies," said Serge Matta, senior vice president of comScore TelecomSolutions.

"As is the case with the majority of technology lifecycles, early adopters include many younger and male consumers. Once the early adopters have had a chance to fully engage with the technology and share their experiences with friends, relatives and colleagues, Mobile TV is substantially more likely to reach a critical mass in the marketplace."

Verizon V-Cast was found to be the leader in product awareness, with 22 percent of consumers saying they were familiar with the service. Other services mentioned were MobiTV, which had 9 percent awareness, and Modeo with 3 percent awareness.

The majority of consumers favor viewing traditional-style Mobile TV content over modified or specialized content. When it comes to watching, 56 percent said they preferred to view an entire TV show instead of a condensed version, and 53 percent were fans of general content such as news.

Cost is the main consideration among consumers choosing a Mobile TV service. Sixty-seven percent said they would watch sponsored advertisements in exchange for free subscriptions, and 64 percent preferred a test period before deciding on a subscription.

Half of respondents said that picture quality was very important, while 47 percent named screen size as a factor and 43 percent were concerned with channel reception.

The study was based on a survey of 2,000 American mobile phone users.