Despite ongoing challenges in the mobile content sector, QuickPlay Media says it continues to grow through strategic deal-making and solid partnerships in a transformative industry still playing catch-up to Asia and Europe.

The Toronto shop, founded in 2004 by telecommunications and media execs Wayne Purboo and Raja Khanna (now co-CEO of GlassBOX Television), has been the Canuck leader in preparing and delivering digital video from media companies such as MTV and CBC to mobile devices for carriers including Bell Mobility, Telus and Rogers Wireless.

Yet the U.S. and Canadian markets have been slow to warm to the mobile TV craze that has gripped other parts of the world, despite being among the top networked countries globally in terms of high-speed Internet and landline phone systems.

‘There’s a lot of transitioning going on,’ says Purboo, who is nonetheless bullish on mobile content.

‘We’ve seen that the larger companies are getting more involved in mobile content. Most notably, firms like Nokia and Apple are taking it very seriously. You need larger companies to participate to get massive consumer take-up,’ he explains. ‘They have the ability to launch products and do marketing campaigns that are really widespread.’

Kate Hanley of consultancy Digital Theory says that lower domestic interest in mobile TV can be attributed to technology that couldn’t seamlessly handle very data-rich content.

‘As a result, the content opportunities for mobile in North America have not been great,’ she says. ‘There was a lot of excitement about it, but it has not taken off.’

While QuickPlay’s relationships with its Canadian clients are ‘stronger than they’ve ever been,’ according to Purboo, the company has also been aggressively pursuing contracts outside Canada, and recently closed deals with Cricket Communications, a Tier 3 carrier in the U.S., and Vodafone in Italy.

Purboo notes that QuickPlay is ‘very profitable’ and in a better position than most digital media firms, since it does not largely rely solely on U.S. contracts – pointing to the financial turmoil on Wall Street.

QuickPlay is a private company and as such does not disclose revenues. However, says Purboo, ‘We’ve had high double-figure growth for the entire life of QuickPlay.’

As with many companies in the digital media sector, QuickPlay has had to contend with layoffs and the shifting of resources.

‘We’re a startup, and all startups have their challenges,’ Purboo says. ‘I’m not going to say we don’t have issues and that we don’t have to work and be diligent.’

Hanley says QuickPlay stands to grow, as North Americans get more excited about mobile content, citing the high take-up rate of the iPhone. She explains that with 3G networks, Canada and the U.S. finally have the technology and capability in place to allow consumers to view content-rich data in a more engaging way.

The number of Canadians that possess mobile phones with video capabilities has also increased, paving the way for greater content demand. Today, nearly 1.1 million Canucks 12+ have a video-enabled cellphone – up from 634,000 in 2007, according to the Print Measurement Bureau of Canada. (The numbers don’t necessarily translate to how many are actually watching video on their handheld devices.)

‘Technology [has] finally created the environment where entertainment and content on mobile will be viable,’ says Hanley. ‘If I was a content provider and making my business plan for this year… I would not be banking on a huge portion of my budget being mobile content, but I would certainly know that it is coming. Players like QuickPlay are very smart to be positioned for it.’