Did You Know: Consumers Keep Phones Longer

Longer contracts are pushing American consumers to keep their handsets longer, according to a new study by J.D. Power and Associates. The average length of ownership of a particular handset has increased for the first time in five years, to 17.5 months from the 16.6 months reported in November 2006. The market analysis firm said that subscribers tend to hold onto their handsets due to the now-standard two-year contract and to avoid onerous service-termination fees when switching service, which may lead to lower renewal rates.

Did You Know: Cellphones and Driving

Cellphones and Driving: There has been driver distraction legislation—most involving cell phones—in all 50 states during the past five years. In 2006 alone, 43 states entertained distracted driver legislation. Many measures seek to outlaw driver use of hand-held phones, with other bills designed to keep cellphones out of the hands of teens and school bus drivers.

Did You Know: Mobile TV Subscribers Increase

The number of mobile TV subscribers worldwide will increase steadily over the next few years, reaching 125 million in 2011, according to new figures from In-Stat.

25 to 34 Yr. Olds Most Likely to Subscribe to Mobile Internet

comScore Inc. completed a study to determine the demographic that is most likely to access the Internet from their mobile phones. They grouped respondents into three groups. The "cellular generation" represented 18 to 24 year olds. The "transitioners" represented 25 to 34 year olds, and the "adult adopters represented those 35 years old and older.

The results showed that "transitioners", those between the ages of 24 and 35, are most likely to use their wireless phone to access the internet.

"The cellular generation is more apt to view their cellphone as an expression of their individuality and a mobile entertainment device that conveys their social status. But transitioners are close behind in their desire to purchase trendy phones. The cellular generation places the greatest value on features such as text messaging and instant messaging, while their more senior counterparts were found to take a more functional view. And that’s where transitioners outdid the cellular generation, with 29 percent subscribing to Internet services on their cellphones compared to 23 percent among younger users."

Source: www.rcrnews.com

Businesses Spend on Wireless

Businesses were open to spending a portion of their 2006 telecommunications budgets on wireless, according to a new Insight Research study that found nearly one-third of business' telecom spending budgets were earmarked for wireless services.

Last year, corporate wireline telecommunications expenditures still accounted for nearly 70% of revenue. Looking ahead, however, not much growth is expected in the wireline segment. Wireless service revenues are expected to increase at a compounded rate of 8% annually from 2006 to 2011.

As a whole, U.S. businesses spent more than $132 billion on telecommunications services last year. Insight predicts that number will increase to nearly $154 billion by 2011.

"The price wars we've seen over the past six years are over, but revenue growth in wireline services is not forecasted to bounce back," said Robert Rosenberg, president of Insight, in a prepared statement. "Wireline revenue growth will be constrained by the growth of wireless spending, though that increase is going to be uneven across the various business sectors," he added.

For its research, Insight studied 14 vertical industries categorized by the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, according to the research firm.

Source: www.wirelessweek.com

Music Enable Phones Get Much Attention in 2006

The music and entertainment business will be glad to hear that 23.5 million mobile- phone subscribers—one in 10 customers—in the United States now have handsets with integrated music players, up five times from the same period in 2005, according to recently published research from Telephia.

Nearly 20 percent of the new cellphones purchased in the third quarter of 2006 were music capable, and while many of those subscribers report loading music onto their handsets via computer, only 8.5 percent reported they had downloaded music over the air from a wireless carrier music store, according to the study.

Mobile phones with integrated music players have been in the U.S. market for more than two years and over-the-air music purchasing is still not available on all major carriers. Sprint and Verizon Wireless do offer such services. Of the more than $3.5 billion spent on carrier advertising in 2006, $234.3 million was spent to promote music phones and music download services, according to the report.

Mobile Phones without Keypads

The keypad on the mobile handset is due for an extreme makeover. Between innovative keypad technologies, dedicated music player buttons and other innovations already on the market, this change is upon us. Check out Nokia Corp.’s so-called “lipstick” phone, model 7380, for a glance at the future. Ironically, according to a recent ARCchart Ltd. study that explores the topic, the technology for this extreme makeover is proven and available today. Consumer acceptance, rather than technological barriers, poses the main hurdle to adoption of a new paradigm.

Creeping incrementalism, rather than radical, rapid change, will likely be the theme of this shift, according to Bill Ray, analyst with ARCchart and lead author of the study, “Handset Input Interface Methods and Technologies: 2007-2011.” In its five-year forecast, ARCchart sees keypads—on 94 percent of devices shipped last year—dropping to 80 percent of devices by 2011. The even more ubiquitous, five-way navigation device—typically, joysticks or joypads with left, right, up, down and enter modes—will give way more rapidly, ARCchart contends, replaced by capacitance detection and fingerprint sensors. (Where current buttons react to pressure, “capacitance detection” refers to a device’s sensitivity to the conductivity of a human finger.)