Taiwanese mobile service providers have started a comics service on cell phones, following the huge success of the business in nearby Japan.

Chunghwa Telecom, the island's largest phone company, began offering a cartoon service last month mainly about boxers and warriors, using the technology of Celsys, a Japanese company that develops browser software for mobile content distributors.

Rival Taiwan Mobile Co. signed a contract with Cartoon Network to have its popular shows "Powerpuff Girls" and "Ben 10" remade into comics for handset users to download and view – the first such venture by the Time Warner Inc.-owned network. That service started last week. Other cartoons were available in July, when 10,000 cell phone users downloaded the comics.

Taiwan Mobile also offers its clients "The Legend of the Three Kingdoms," a popular Japanese comic book based on the classic Chinese story of war and revenge.

Industry sources said the comics-on-phone business generated $90 million in revenues in Japan in 2006. Taiwan, with a population of 23 million compared to 127 million in Japan and less sophisticated cell phone users, hopes to reach one-fifth or one-tenth of that figure in five years.

Source:AP News