The FBI uses Criminal Profilers to narrow down suspects.....

Hospitals and clinics use heart profilers to diagnose and treat heart ailments.....

And now, it appears the cell phone industry is getting into the act of profiling its subscribers.

M:Metrics, a company that measures consumer consumption of mobile content and applications, has recently released a benchmark study to help determine the typical users of each major carrier.

"Our data shows that each carrier attracts its own demographic, which correlates with the consumption of mobile content," responds Seamus McAteer, M:Medtric's senior analyst and chief product architect.

In other words, M:Metrics feels their studies show a pattern in the typical wireless user's age and income, compared to how often mobile content is downloaded from the internet.

The Study's Finding on Major Carriers:

• Both Sprint and T-Mobile have the highest percentage of young carriers between the ages of 18 to 34. This age group is also responsible for downloading the most mobile content. Both carriers showed a higher than average content consumption, particularly in the download of games and photo/text messaging.

  For instance, if you are a male, in your late teens, and frequently downloads games on your cell phone, you're twice as likely to have chosen Sprint as your phone's service carrier.

• Nextel users are even more defined. The study showed the majority of subscribers to this carrier are between the ages of 35 and 44, and male. Nextel was also the carrier with the highest percentage of users with household annual incomes in excess of $100,000.

  Surprisingly, the study also showed users of Nextel were four times more likely to have their cell phone bills paid by their employer.

• If your a Verizon or Cingular user, chances are you're 45 years old, or older. In fact, according to the M:Metrics survey, 55.8% of these network subscribers are retirement age, or older.

  Generally, users of Verizon or Cingular are much less likely to use even the most basic services. The study showed only a little more than 10% of older users sent text messages in the three month period of the study.

The Study's Findings on Prepaid Carriers:

Tracfone and Virgin Mobile, both prepaid cell phone service providers, were also named in the study. The survey showed subscribers of the two prepaid networks spent roughly the same amount on calling plans, and had simular household incomes.

But, the survey showed there was a vast difference in the users of the two networks. Virgin Mobile's phones are geared towards young teens, generally 13 to 17 years old. While Tracfone tends to draw the older user (ages 45 and older) who use the prepaid phone for emergencies.

Virgin Mobile users also tend to download much more mobile applications than Tracfone subscribers. In a typical month, only about 2% of Tracfone users opt to download ringtones, compared to about 20% of Virgin Mobile customers.

Sandra Landwehr is the webmaster of The-Cell-Phone-Advisor.com, a consumer awareness site that offers REAL help in finding your cell phone plan and carrier.