Carriers' Data Revenue May Be On Hold; Could Be Cut Out Of The Loop; Users get data elsewhere as advances in technology are added to cell phones.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: MIKE ANGELL

Wireless carriers love slick new cell phones. Their sales rise as customers use more new features on their fancy new headsets.

There's just one problem with some of the snazzy, newest mobile phones -- they include technology that can lower carriers' revenue by helping users bypass the carriers' networks to get certain content.

The carriers' power to control wireless data "is diminishing," said American Technology Research analyst Albert Lin. "The economics of the business will get worse."

Big U.S. carriers such as Sprint and Verizon Wireless generate more than $1 billion each a year as their users send text messages, take and share photos, download ring tones and surf the Web. That's all part of various data packages carriers sell to subscribers.

Two fast-emerging wireless transmission technologies, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, are part of the carriers' dilemma. So, too, are phones equipped with USB cables and removable memory cards. Phones equipped with these technologies and extras can download, browse, link, etc. through computers or TV set-top boxes. The carrier can be cut out of the process, putting the billions in data revenue at risk.

Wireless data are still a Wild West. No one knows how the technical horse race will be settled. But one thing is certain: Wireless carriers today depend on data revenue for much of their sales growth as competition forces cuts in voice prices.