December 11
Tantivy Communications Inc., a provider of portable wireless broadband solutions, today announced highlights from research studies it commissioned from Gartner Consulting, an international information technology consulting group, throughout 2001 to further examine the breadth and viability of the emerging portable wireless market segment. These studies expanded upon Tantivy's original research on consumer demand for portable wireless broadband solutions--the basis upon which the company was founded. One of the most notable research findings indicated that 90 percent of worldwide professionals and telecommuters will adopt wireless data solutions by 2005 to stay in touch. Most will want portable cellular wireless solutions that can support downloads in the 300 Kbps range while moving at pedestrian speeds.
Over the next three to five years, Internet users expect to access the Internet by using a variety of wireless devices. For business Internet users, the top devices mentioned were wireless modem (56 percent), a cell phone (51 percent), a PDA (50 percent) or a laptop computer (43 percent). Residential Internet users expect to connect with many different devices including laptop computers (35 percent), cell phones (33 percent) and wireless modems (32 percent). Furthermore, two-thirds of business users and nearly one-half of residential users show a high level of interest in portable wireless Internet access. The research indicated that users are highly interested in the Tantivy solution, or achieving download speeds at 365 Kbps and uploads at 222 Kbps.
Such data further proves major market opportunities for portable wireless solutions like Tantivy's Internet-Code Division Multiple Access (I-CDMA(TM)) technology that enables wireless service providers to offer subscribers true 3G broadband capabilities.
I-CDMA is the only fully IP-based 3G technology available today that enables portable, wireless broadband Internet access. I-CDMA technology wirelessly replicates the desktop Internet experience, giving consumers anywhere, always-on Internet access. This technology can support per user access speeds of 365 Kbps to 1.7 Mbps for downloading and 222 Kbps for uploading data--an experience comparable to today's alternative high-speed wire line solutions. I-CDMA technology can support 1,000 users per 1.25 MHz channel--10 times the user capacity of 2.5G network technologies.
"Our research reveals that the worldwide market demand for portable Internet devices is growing as our society becomes more mobile," stated Behram Dalal, Gartner Public Telecom Consulting vice president. "Notebooks, PDAs and other handhelds are starting to take over from the desktop PC as computing power continues to increase. This transition is opening a major market for portable wireless solutions like Tantivy's I-CDMA technology, which supports broadband capabilities."
Gartner conducted initial interviews with both business (234 respondents) and home (326 respondents) Internet users in the U.S. In addition, Garter studied several market segments including residential (consumer category), SOHO (small business within the home), fixed telecommuter (those who work from home), work extender (those who take work home and also travel), mobile professional (road warrior), mobile data collector (transportation, dispatch employee), small medium enterprise (business up to 500 employees) and large business (business with more than 500 employees) within the U.S., Asia and Europe.
"Tantivy was founded in 1997 on the realization of a strong consumer demand for portable wireless broadband solutions, and Gartner's research further proves the viability of these solutions," stated Tantivy President and CEO Randy Roberson. "Tantivy's I-CDMA technology offers the best business case for a new revenue stream called portable broadband. Based on its speed, capacity and coverage advantages, I-CDMA technology is best poised to enable carriers to cost-effectively meet the growing demand for wireless access to multimedia Internet content and network applications."
During 2001, I-CDMA technology field trials were completed in Florida and in suburban and dense urban environments in South Korea. All field tests successfully met and or exceeded speed, capacity and coverage expectations, validating the viability of this 3G technology. In addition, the leading telecom standards developer Standards Committee T1 recently announced plans to create standards supporting Wireless Wideband InterNet Access (WWINA) network systems, and Tantivy's I-CDMA technology is being considered for these standards.
Additional Research Results
- Outside North America, wireless is becoming a substitute for wireline residential use. Coupled with the demand for broadband Internet access, this creates an international market of more than 700 million wireline users that can be served with broadband wireless access.
- One-half of the business Internet users surveyed have high-speed Internet connections at work. Over the next five years, there are increasing expectations for high-speed and wireless Internet access as Internet penetration reaches 80% in the business sector. - Desktop computers and laptops are the most common devices used by businesspeople to connect to the Internet. Increasingly, cell phones and PDAs are becoming more common. 29% currently access using a cell phone and 15% currently access using a personal digital assistant (PDA).
- The majority of Residential Internet users currently connect to the Internet with dial-up modems. In the next five years, many expect to change to higher-speed or wireless access. 83% of Residential Internet users connect via a dial-up modem. In the next five years, 65% of Residential Internet users expect to have a different primary means of connection: cable modem (23%), DSL (13%), wireless (22%).
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