Mark Desautels, Vice President of Wireless Internet Development for CTIA, penned an article about the status of mobile content ratings for RCR Wireless News.

The current mobile ratings were established back in 2005 as a kind of mirror to the rating systems available on television and other forms of media. But the net result so far has been that restricted content is pretty much unavailable for viewing or purchase on cell phones.

That's set to change soon. Desautels said that "the carriers are at work developing the tools and processes necessary to enable and allow them to offer more sophisticated content, whether that is unedited versions of 'South Park' or R-rated movies or M-rated games."

We can expect more on this front by the end of the year, Desautels said, as the carriers work to overcome the technical difficulties involved. Offering mature-level content "will be required if carriers hope to successfully compete with the more mature and already established channels for content distribution," he said.

Mobile Content Rating: Where We Are and Where We're Going [RCR Wireless News]