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Technology Stocks : The *NEW* Frank Coluccio Technology Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Ecclesine who wrote (5556)	6/3/2002 10:49:57 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 46821

Peter, On the matter of paying for license, let's try it in reverse. This morning I received a report suggesting that wireless carriers are perched and ready to "capitalize" on billing for WLAN services. Capitalize? OR are they ready to do damage control? It had been my understanding that the ISM bands were "off limits" to for-profit carrier ventures. Am I correct about this, or have I been wrong in my thinking? ---------begin: Dear Frank, With mobile Internet users significantly interested in accessing, and paying for public Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) services, cellular carriers may be in the perfect position to capitalize, according to In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com). In a recent survey of a select group of early adopters of wireless Internet services, the high-tech market research firm found that virtually all respondents were at least somewhat interested in using WLANs in public places, with 19% already using them and 33% extremely interested in utilizing them in the future. With their billing skills and substantial existing customer bases, cellular providers are in a unique position to take advantage of this interest. By offering public WLAN services, carriers could ultimately increase their Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), something that has definitely proved a challenge in the current economic environment. Converting those who are interested into actual users will be dependent on whether service providers are able to price the services affordably (preferably with flat fees) and make them broadly available. The establishment of roaming agreements between providers will be crucial to success. In-Stat/MDR has also found that: - The majority of survey respondents would prefer to purchase and be billed for WLAN services by their cellular phone service providers. - The top three places survey respondents envision using the service is at airports, hotels, and convention centers - top spots for business travelers. - 98% of respondents cited e-mail as something that they would use public WLAN access for. This Market Alert is drawn from the In-Stat/MDR report, "Public Wireless LANs: The Ultimate Complement to the Mobile Internet" (#IN020348WI), which reveals the results of a survey of members of In-Stat/MDR's Wireless Internet Panel, regarding their interest in the use of public WLANs. Respondents are currently accessing the Internet using a wireless telephone or other wireless device and tend to be early adopters of new technologies. To purchase this report, or for more information, please visit: instat.com or contact Erin McKeighan; emckeighan@instat.com at 480.609.4551. The report price is $1,995.