A new study by Carrick James Market Research of the UK, written about in today's International Herald Tribune, points out that 63% of Britons 7 to 19 have mobile phones. In the US, the number is lower but rising. And what are the most popular applications used by young mobile afficianados? Mobile data is high on the list, but what happens when the bill arrives and parents freak out from the exorbitant data tariffs multiplied by Junior's ringtone frenzy? Typically, the breaks are put on usage.

This piece in the IHT points out that "responsible" operators who target young customers must keep the parents onside by providing ways for those parents to control spending. This is all well and good, but wouldn't an equally good strategy be for operators to stop gouging customers with data charges to recoup all the costs of their ongoing mistakes elsewhere?

Keeping parents happy by strictly gating their kids' behavior with mobiles does not encourage long-term, deep, persistent use of services any more that it does with adults. I have recently gotten ridiculously high data bills several months running from Cingular, and they couldn't have cared less when I mentioned to them that I'd probably be a better customer long term if I wasn't punished for any and all data usage (you are damned if you pay-per-bit, and you are damned if you pay flat rate).

The same applies for cultivating younger customers to be older customers one day. Negative experiences and high costs won't grow an industry, particularly if one hand is putting up glittery marketing to attract young customers with games and promotions, and the other is holding those customers back with high costs.

(Image: CommanderZed/Flickr)