Is the ringtone dead? One way or the other - it’s no concern to Verisign’s Germany-based Jamba (also known as Jamster outside Germany). The company - widely recognized as the first European D2C content provider to make the sale of ringtones a mainstream business - has prepared well for life after the ringtone, launching a variety of new music download services and software that makes the automatic synchronization of PC and mobile possible. I spoke with Markus Berger-de Leon, Jamba’s CEO, to get his perspective on where the mobile content business is going and where Jamba will be once the company (in which News Corp. recently bought a 51 percent stake) has pooled the digital assets belonging to Fox Mobile Entertainment. The full audio MP3 of the interview is here for download (7.35 MB, 18.2 minutes).

Look for Jamba launch a community service before Christmas. Berger-de Leon wouldn’t provide details, but he hinted the company is also planning a “very big push into super-distribution.” In fact, Jamba’s P2P file-sharing scheme will not only be large scale - it will be legal.

Networking next: Jamba hasn’t necessarily shifted away from selling ringtones - but it is convinced there may be more money in music downloads, games and videos. The next step for Jamba is to “merge” mobile content and social networks (such as Jamba’s “I Love” community, which leads the pack in Poland and Russia). As Berger-de Leon put it: It’s about allowing users to connect with content and with each other. “Jamba will offer the communication facilities around that capability.”

Sell content, not advertising: While Berger-de Leon is positive about the outlook for mobile advertising, he’s not about to bet the farm on it. “[Mobile advertising] is something we’re exploring ourselves but more as a marketing channel for our own services. We’re currently experimenting with ad-funded content….I think we yet have to see how viable a model that is and how well [it] can work.” Jamba has also taken a keen interest in mobile search, participating as a trial partner in mobile search schemes involving all the usual suspects.

Keep ‘em coming: Subscriptions will continue to be the end-game for content companies. “I only see two models that really work:  Subscription and ad-funded. I don’t see anything in between and I don’t believe you can build a sustainable business model without [them].”

Join the search: Can a major brand like Jamba get mileage out of offering mobile search as a service and then rake in the advertising revenues? Berger-de Leon is sold on the idea. “It’s certainly something we’re thinking about.  There are not many sites around the world that have the number of WAP traffic or mobile Internet traffic that we have.”

The 2007 mega-trend (drum roll, please): Improved usability (primarily enabled by client software and OTA content updates) will take center stage. “The mass market still has various issues with being able to order and download content [on their mobile devices] and I think 2007 again will be about helping those people to get on board…. In spite of all these mega-trends that are certainly there, we should not forget the user and all the things we should do for users to make sure they actually have a positive experience with our service.”

The full audio MP3 of the interview is here for download (7.35 MB, 18.2 minutes).  Or stream the show below: