Paging for personal use is increasing, and personal users-among all paging users-show the most interest in advanced paging services, reported the Yankee Group in a recent study, “Wireless Segmentation: Strategies for the Consumer.”
The Boston firm also reported 75 percent of personal users would use a voice pager as their standard paging device, not as a replacement for a cellular phone. Only 4 percent said they would replace a cellular phone with a voice pager.
The report is good news for narrowband personal communications services licensees, as the paging industry at large has taken a beating on Wall Street the last year. One reason is investor skepticism about demand for voice paging and two-way messaging services in the face of broadband PCS services. Many new wireless phones include a messaging function.
The Yankee Group found that personal paging users are more likely than business users to carry their pagers at all times. Reasons for paging use among personal users included keeping in touch with friends and family, 59 percent; contact specifically with their children, 25 percent; and ability to be always available to a sick or elderly relative, 16 percent.
Fifty-two percent of all current paging users surveyed said they are interested in voice paging. Fifty-nine percent of personal users affirmed interest. Of other groups questioned-local, regional, and national users-the least interest in voice paging came from national users, about 46 percent of that whole group.
Of current business paging users interviewed, 36 percent said they would “probably never” replace their pagers should better technology become available, “no matter what came along,” reported the Yankee Group. Asked the same question, 30 percent of personal users responded the same. Twenty-nine percent of personal users and 22 percent of business users responded they were likely to upgrade with technology advancements.
The Yankee Group noted that paging carriers are changing the structure of some services to increase revenue per unit-which currently averages $10-rather than lowering prices. New services include prepaid paging, calling party pays and other enhanced services. Increased use of resellers is another way some operators are trying to increase revenue, said the research firm.
Paging Network Inc. will be first out of the box for voice paging with VoiceNow, based on Motorola Inc.’s InFLEXion protocol. The service is scheduled to begin Feb. 24 in Dallas. Conxus Communications Inc. will likely be PageNet’s largest and most immediate competitor, with plans for a wide scope launch of its InFLEXion-based service at the end of August. PageMart Inc., also an InFLEXion licensee, is focusing immediate attention on its ReFLEX 25 two-way network.
“Wireless Segmentation” also reported increased demand for cellular and PCS among nonusers in 1996, compared with nonusers in surveys the preceding two years. Despite 35 percent growth rates in the market during 1995 and 1994, nearly 23 percent of consumers surveyed reported they plan a cellular purchase in the next year, compared with a reported 16 percent in 1995 and 14 percent in 1994, said Yankee.
Yankee said 18 percent of U.S. households have at least one cellular phone. The average monthly bill continues to drop, down to $57 (including long distance), and among personal users the average monthly bill is $44. So far PCS costs 5 percent to 30 percent less than cellular with the greatest discounts among low use packages. PCS calling plans are easier and fewer, and features including no contracts, bundled services and free first minute on incoming calls are becoming standard.
Yankee added that “our research shows that technology has not exactly been liberating. People are more mobile and are working harder than ever before.”
