The future looks bright for third generation mobiles, according to the boss of phone maker Sony Ericsson

Katsumi Ihara said that as more video and music became available to download, users would switch to the new mobiles. "With the 3G network, you can download rich content in a short period of time, so time has come for content companies," he told BBC News Online. Third generation phone services let users access the net at high speeds and allows them to watch and send videos. The technology has been slow to take off in the UK, partly hampered by the large and cumbersome nature of the first handsets. But it looks like there are better times ahead. The country's first 3G operator, 3, recently reported a big jump in the number of customers, helped by the arrival of smaller, lighter phones. Sony Ericsson is looking to tap into this demand for the new handsets with its first 3G model, the clamshell Z1010. The joint venture between Japan's Sony and Sweden's Ericsson was born in April 2001, but has yet to make a big splash. It has about 5% of the global market for handsets, lagging behind firms such as Nokia, Motorola and Siemens. But the Sony Ericsson president believes 3G technology offers his company an opportunity to capitalise on the range of music and film owned by Sony's media empire.