Consumers will only pay premium for custom data
By Lynnette Luna
NEW ORLEANS?The only type of wireless data a customer is willing to pay for is customized information, concluded Mark Lowenstein, senior vice president of the Yankee Group, after unveiling a new wireless consumer survey at Personal Communications Showcase ?99.
??How do wireless carriers make money when so much information on the Internet is free??? asked Lowenstein. ??Consumers are only willing to pay a premium for customized information.??
The Yankee Group and the Personal Communications Industry Association introduced a new comprehensive study that included 3,414 respondents and gave an indication of how consumers view wireless data. Most respondents, said Lowenstein, are willing to pay about $5 or less per month for basic information like stock quotes and weather information. The price increases to $10 per month for more customized information such as traffic information that is tailored to their needs.
??The industry needs to get customers more knowledgeable about wireless data,?? said Lowenstein.
Most survey respondents were unaware of new devices such as the NeoPoint 1000 handset that offers features such as calendaring and Internet access, he said.
??People are centered on using the laptop for mobile data,?? said Lowenstein. ??Customer knowledge is immature.??
Other findings of the survey included:
ú Fifty percent of U.S. households use some sort of wireless technology, up from 45.5 percent in 1998 and 41 percent in 1997. Based on U.S. Census Bureau household projections for 1999, 49.9 percent translates into about 51 million households.
ú Six percent of mobile users reported that wireless service has replaced a significant percentage of their landline usage, especially among high average revenue per unit (ARPU) and high minutes of use (MOU) customers.
ú Two percent of mobile-phone users said their wireless phones are their only phones, especially among new users and PCS subscribers. The Yankee Group believes the addressable market for wireless replacement in the near term is about 5 percent of the installed base for wireless users.
ú Fifty percent of respondents claimed to have digital wireless service. Of that number, 38 percent said they have digital cellular and 12 percent say they have personal communications services.
The Yankee Group said this survey data reflects a higher perception of digital penetration than reality, since the second-quarter Yankee Group market analysis reveals that the total digital cellular and PCS installed base is about 35 percent of all users. Also, 14 percent of respondents said they didn?t know what type of service they were using, showing there still is some market confusion about different wireless technologies, said the Yankee Group.
ú Forty-four percent indicated they prefer separate devices for wireless phone, messaging and handheld computing functions. The figure jumps to 52 percent for high ARPU and high MOU users.
ú Wireless users have a relatively high penetration of desktop computer (59 percent) and online services/Internet access (46 percent).
ú Fifty-two percent of wireless phone users and 50 percent of pager users feel their devices make them more productive.
ú The average monthly phone bill is $39. While there has been a 20-percent decrease in the price per minute for wireless services in the past year, there has been a concurrent 20-percent increase in minutes of use during the same period.
ú Seventeen percent of all respondents were ??very?? or ??somewhat interested?? in having e-mail messages forwarded to wireless messaging devices from their primary e-mail addresses, 15 percent are interested in wireless online services and Internet access and 19 percent are interested in two-way wireless e-mail capability.
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