Today Amp'd and Medio announced their partnership to create an ad network on the Amp'd portal in the US. With less than one percent of the number of subscribers that a AT&T/Cingular or Verizon has, one may ask: "What is the big deal?"

It's a big deal because Amp'd subscribers crank through an unreal number of page views each month on their way to consuming $30 in data services each month.

The $$ add up on a per subscriber basis as measured by a relative potential increase in ARPU. And, these subscribers buy stuff - valuable target audience.

Aside from the Amp'd deal, it's another step in the direction of aggregating inventory. To attract real ad dollars, an ad network needs to serve up a lot of inventory and do so cost effectively. Whether Medio sells the inventory itself directly is less relevant - it's important that they roll it up and monetize it the best they can by allowing sophisticated targeting.