DALLAS-Half of all pagers in North America today are used by people under 30 years of age, according to a recent survey conducted by IDC/Link Resources.
“We found that paging is alive and well and has excellent growth potential,” said Iain Gillott, IDC vice president of worldwide consumer and small business telecommunications. “The study also revealed that 21.6 percent of households have used a paging or messaging device for less than a year. This finding and others point to continued growth and opportunity. With additional industry marketing efforts, market penetration can be greatly enhanced.”
Gillott previewed the survey results at the Get Connected ’98 convergence in Dallas in early May, hosted by Motorola Inc.’s Paging Systems Group.
The survey, conducted in March, was a sort of rallying flag for the conference, which drew more than 250 paging service carriers, providers, marketing and manufacturing representatives. The conference included panel discussions made up of industry experts who shared their vision for the future of wireless and messaging.
“Since last year’s Get Connected event, North American paging service providers have made major strides in growing their business and in developing new applications, and the market response has been positive,” said Motorola’s David Hughes, corporate vice president and general manager of the Paging Systems Group.
Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association, said, “The paging industry is one of the most cost-effective wireless communications media available today. The world is increasingly moving to wireless technologies for communications solutions, and wireless messaging will play a vital role.”
The conference also included discussions about new markets for Motorola’s FLEX protocols. “Today, there are over 160 FLEX technology-based systems in commercial operation in more than 30 countries,” Hughes said. “We have developed a strong set of solutions with which customers can migrate from one-way paging to two-way data and voice, from two-way paging to other two-way applications.”
