Messaging ranks as most used wireless Internet application: Decima survey

Email is the most popular wireless Internet application used by Canadians via cell phones or other handheld devices. That is one of the key findings of a soon-to-be-released report prepared by Decima Publishing Inc. and Decima Research Inc. on the attitudes and usage habits of adult handheld wireless device users. UnWired 'Net: Consumer Attitudes on the Wireless Internet Using Personal Wireless Devices indicates that a majority of Canadians who use their wireless device to access Internet services overwhelmingly use it for messaging-type applications. While email and text messaging aren't considered by most to be wireless Internet services, the Decima report includes these applications as Internet applications. The survey polled approximately 2,000 adult Canadians in February. The report notes that email is the top-ranked application, garnering a 53% usage rate among wireless device users accessing the Internet via these devices. When short messaging service (SMS), commonly referred to as text messaging, is factored in (9%), the rate jumps to nearly two-thirds (62%). Checking weather/sports updates (20%), news (11%), and surfing the web (6%) round out the balance of the top-five applications (see tables below for interest levels from both wireless device and non-device users). It is clear from the report's findings that messaging is and will continue to be a key application going forward. "Upon further analysis, we find that 36% of these respondents (wireless Internet users) only access email or text messaging when accessing the Internet from their personal wireless device, whereas 22% access some combination of messaging plus other information. This appears to solidify the fact that messaging plays a central role in the use of a personal wireless device for Internet access," states the report. While the survey results demonstrate that adult Canadians seem to have adopted messaging as a key application of the wireless Internet, anecdotal evidence from the wireless operators indicates that wireless gaming and the downloading of ringtones is on the rise among a younger segment of the population. The 17 and under age group now represents approximately half of their new subscribers, they tell Report on Wireless, adding that the shifting demographics have resulted in a spike in gaming and ringtone downloading activity. Future market looks bright Currently, 17% of cell phone users and 42% of other handheld wireless device users employ their device to access some type of wireless Internet service. That market is expected to increase substantially over the next year as interest in purchasing a device and subscribing to wireless Internet services among adult Canadians is on the rise. Of non-device owners, nearly one in five (17%) indicate that they are very likely or somewhat likely to purchase a wireless device within the next 12 months. This is more than double the intent-to-purchase rate recorded in a 2002 Decima survey where only 7% indicated their intent to buy a wireless device. Similarly, the likelihood of subscribing to a wireless Internet service has risen dramatically over the last year. The February 2003 consumer survey results indicate that nearly one-quarter (23%) of non-wireless device owners who have shown a high interest in purchasing a device in the next 12 months are very likely or somewhat likely to subscribe to wireless Internet services during the same period. This is a 100% increase from the level recorded in 2002 where 11% indicated such a desire. Additionally, there are a substantial number of Canadians who don't own an Internet-enabled wireless device but who plan to purchase one within the next 12 months. Purchase intent has increased from 11% in 2002 to 16% in 2003. Decima Publishing believes that the device purchase intent combined with the intent to subscribe to the wireless Internet signals a pending surge in the wireless market. Despite the potential that gaming, ringtones and other wireless data services could represent for carriers down the road, adult Canadians are currently wedded to messaging-type services, such as email or SMS. According to the survey results, both wireless Internet users and non-users indicate they would choose some type of messaging functionality (email and/or text messaging) among their top-five Internet services they would like to access. "essaging has driven use of personal wireless device Internet access in the past and is also perceived by non-owners to be a key service functionality that they would desire in the future. Decima believes this will continue to be the case throughout the coming 12 months," the report states. The February 2003 research was collected through the Decima Express, a national omnibus telephone survey conducted monthly by Decima Research. Results of the survey are based on a sample of 2,025 adult Canadians. A survey of this size can be expected to provide results accurate to within +/- 2.2%, 19 times out of 20.

Messaging ranks as most used wireless Internet application: Decima survey

News | 05/13/2003 4:00 am EDT

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