U.S. businesses are allowing a growing number of employees to use a variety of wireless services, according to a set of recent reports from high-tech market research firm, Cahners In-Stat Group (http://www.instat.com).
In-Stat's research determined that roughly 47 percent of the U.S. workforce will have access to wireless voice, pagers and/or mobile computing devices, like Palm Pilots, by the end of 2001. As wireless services and equipment become more robust and functional for business customers, In-Stat expects wireless adoption in the business market to rise steadily, reaching more than 60 percent of the workforce by 2004.
Interestingly, the smallest companies (firms with fewer than 100 employees) are expected to account for the largest group of business users "working wireless" now and in the future.
"The affordability and pervasiveness of wireless voice services has paved the way for fairly quick adoption among business customers, even in smaller companies," said Kneko Burney, director of eBusiness Infrastructure & Services for In-Stat.
"What we see now is just the beginning of how U.S. employees will use wireless services and equipment. As handset and mobile devices become more powerful and wireless broadband a reality, business-class services such as wireless-accessible hosted applications and wireless corporate email, should become more commonplace, driving demand in the future."
The adoption of these robust services will also continue to drive business expenditures on wireless services. The research also shows that business customers are most likely making use of wireless phones for the time being, but have strong expectations to increase their use of mobile computing devices in the future.
The research also found that:
-- More than 60 million U.S. employees will use some sort of wireless device for business purposes, primarily cellular phones, in 2001.
-- Interestingly, the majority of business wireless users will
likely be found in the smallest businesses (firms with less than 100 employees), where per firm penetration among employment is more than 50 percent.
-- The continued advancement of both wireless handsets and handheld devices are expected to attract a growing number of business customers, and will also lead to a strong "replacement effect" where users replace their equipment regularly (as often as once a year) to make use of new services.
-- U.S. businesses are expected to spend nearly $37 billion on wireless communications services in 2001. This is expected to reach nearly $74 billion by 2005.
The reports, "All Business is eBusiness: Demand for Mobile Solutions & Communications Expenditures in the Small, SOHO, Middle and Enterprise Markets" cover the current demand for wireless services and equipment in the small, SOHO, middle and enterprise business markets.
They provide vital statistics on estimated penetration of wireless services in these markets, as well as detailed forecasts for telecom spending. These five-year spending forecasts show estimated expenditures for local, long-distance, wireless voice, data services and telecom equipment in each market.
To purchase these reports, or for more information, please visit www.instat.com or contact Chris Kissel at 480/609-4531; ckissel@instat.com. The reports are priced at $2,995 each.
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