The amount of wireless minutes being used by U.S. households per month grew significantly in 2000 over 1999. Household cellular/PCS usage increased to an average of 247 minutes per month, compared with 155 in 1999 and 89 in 1998. This is one of many key findings from IDC`s annual Personal Wireless Communications User Survey.
"We are seeing this dramatic growth for a variety of reasons," said Charul Vyas, research analyst with IDC`s Wireless and Mobile Communications program. "The main reason is that rate plans are becoming more affordable, enabling end users to spend more time on their phones without spending more money. On average, total monthly household cellular/PCS spending increased only 10% over 1999."
Other findings from IDC`s survey include:
More than one-third (35%) of the users said their household had two or more phones; nearly 10% said they had three or more.
Most respondents purchased their handsets from the cellular/PCS phone company store (34%), followed by the company`s direct sales force and electronics stores.
The most influential factors in the purchase of a phone were special offers or promotions (19%); features of the handset influenced only 15% of purchases.
Contract commitments are on the decline. Roughly 60% of respondents reported having to commit to a contract, which is 10 percentage points lower than in 1999.
For its Personal Wireless Communications User Survey, IDC conducted telephone interviews with 900 cellular/PCS users. The many topics addressed include cellular/PCS use and spending, use of prepaid cellular/PCS, distribution channels, and interest in new services such as wireless Internet access. The report, Personal Wireless Communications User Survey, 2000 (IDC #B22094), presents the survey results cross-tabulated by RBOC region, state/multistate regions, and usage, work, and personal demographics. Because of the large number of data tables, the report is available in spreadsheet format, enabling researchers to quickly and easily search for information.
For local information contact nicola@bmi-t.co.za
Share
International Data Corporation (IDC)
BMI-T has established a long-standing business relationship with the International Data Corporation (IDC). With research centres in over 40 countries and more than 500 research analysts and 3 900 clients world-wide, IDC provides a global market perspective on IT market and technology trends.
As the exclusive South African partner of IDC, BMI-T has instant access to IDC`s formidable knowledge base and consulting skills, and is positioned to offer African clients access to the full range of IDC `s global research.
For more information on IDC products and services, please visit IDCSA on http://www.info@bmi-t.co.za, or contact:
Laurika Kapp
IDCSA Accounts Manager
Tel: + 27 11 803-6412
Fax: + 27 11 803-784
E-mail: Laurika@bmi-t.co.za
BMI-TechKnowledge Group (BMI-T)
BMI-TechKnowledge (BMI-T) is Africa `s leading supplier of market intelligence and knowledge-based consulting in the areas of IT, telecommunications and broadcasting.
Formed over fourteen years ago, BMI-T provides its clients with an unmatched and comprehensive range of unbiased market knowledge. BMI-T conducts more than 20 000 market research business-to-business and business-to-consumer interviews and more than 100 focus group projects every year.
BMI-T has an active ongoing research publications business that has consistently published research-based market analysis covering many facets of the IT, telecommunications and emerging media sectors. This knowledge base provides the platform on which we build our customised research and consulting, including assignments such as market entry strategies, product entry strategies, channel and distribution analysis and African research.
For more information please visit our Web site www.bmi-t.co