Robert Eltzroth isn't interested in sending text messages or taking pictures with a cellular phone. He doesn't care what sound the phone makes when it rings.

Shoppers such as Eltzroth are keeping reception and price in mind as they select cell phones. Most buyers choose entry-level models, even though wireless carriers are marketing streaming video, Internet access and other extras to cell phone users.

More than half of the customers at Fort Wayne Wireless, a cell phone dealer on St. Joe Road, bypass these advanced features in favor of the free or discounted phone that comes with their wireless plan, general manager Phillip Coomer said.

Even the entry-level phones customers receive for free or at a discounted rate when they sign a contract for wireless service have some advanced features, Coomer said. Most of these phones are capable of sending text messages, accessing the Internet and downloading ringtones.

As customers grow more comfortable with cell phone features, sales of high-end phones are rising, said Derek Estes, U.S. Cellular's director of sales for Indiana. Estes could not provide any sales figures, but he said entry-level camera phones are among the regional wireless carrier's biggest sellers.

But digital cameras and other advanced features are not part of the mainstream yet. The five most popular cell phone models in the country as of the second quarter of this year do not include cameras, according to M:Metrics Inc., a Seattle-based company that measures cell phone usage. M:Metrics surveys 12,000 to 14,000 mobile phone subscribers each month to track ownership.

More than 15 million Americans owned the top-five cell phone models, according to M:Metrics' survey results from the second quarter. The five phones can play ringtones, but only instrumental tunes rather than actual musical recordings with lyrics. Four of the phones have Web browsers, but three provide only text menus without pictures.

Fort Wayne resident Sandra Payton is among those who prefer to use their cell phones for voice service. She could use her cell phone to send text messages or download ringtones, but the 50-year-old church office administrator prefers to stick to the basics. The mother of two teenage children said she can check her e-mail just as easily on her home computer without the additional expense of using her cell phone.

But basic cell phones such as Payton's do not offer as many potential revenue streams for wireless carriers. Cell phone users pay to send digital photographs, surf the Internet and download ringtones and video games. These extras are growing more important to wireless carriers because there are fewer people left to sell cell phones to. An estimated 194 million people nationwide already subscribe to cell phone service, according to CTIA - the Wireless Association, an industry group based in Washington, D.C.

The carriers want consumers to buy more advanced phones so they can bring in additional revenue, Coomer said. Some carriers offer camera phones as the free model with purchase of a service plan. In other cases, the price of upgrading from the free or discounted phone to a camera phone bight be only $50, he said.

"The carriers definitely want them to have a camera phone," Coomer said. "They want them to have these features, so they make it attractive pricewise."

Voice service remains the core of national carrier Verizon Wireless' business, but customers are taking advantage of its other services in growing numbers, spokeswoman Michelle Gilbert said. In the second quarter of this year, Verizon Wireless customers sent 62 million pictures and video clips through their cell phones, she said. The introduction of digital video recording helped nearly triple that business from the second quarter of 2004, when customers sent 21 million photographs through their cell phones.

"There's still room for growth (in the voice business), but what you're going to find as the population is aging is that's where a growing part of the business is coming from," she said.

Through a program called Easy Edge, U.S. Cellular offers its customers the ability to download video games or weather programs onto their phones, Estes said. About 13 percent of cell phone users access news and other information from their phones, he said.

Customers are growing more interested in high-end cell phones as they become more accustomed to the features available, said Jeremy Bracey, product manager for Fort Wayne-based Centennial Wireless, a regional wireless carrier. Centennial carries the $449 Palm Treo 650, a personal data assistant combined with a cell phone. Treo users can send e-mail, surf the Web or shoot a digital movie clip with the phone. Centennial has seen a growth in demand for the Treo and similar phones.

"There's no doubt the interest from consumers in higher-end phones is going up," Bracey said. Still, the best-selling phones tend to be the ones sold at a discount with Centennial's service plans, he said.

About 10 percent of Fort Wayne Wireless customers buy top-of-the-line phones, Coomer said. The store is selling the Motorola Rokr, which can play songs downloaded from iTunes. The Rokr also takes photographs, shoots video and can be used with wireless Bluetooth headsets. The phone costs about $260 with the purchase of a Cingular service plan or about $450 on its own, Coomer said.

Eltzroth did not look for any of those features as he looked at cell phones in U.S. Cellular's store in the Northcrest Shopping Center last week. Eltzroth, an auto mechanic, said he will probably buy the free phone featured with the service plan he chooses.

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