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Weekly UpdatesA new report by the Center for Telecom Management at the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business reveals critical trends for wireless.
The Telecom Outlook Report (TOR) on Wireless, the latest in a series of industry analyses by researchers at USC, projects 2003 to be a boom year for SMS -- text messaging between mobile phones or to an email address -- propelling continued growth of mobile wireless.
TOR experts said 34 percent of all SMS would be accessed through mobile devices in 2003. Nearly 30 percent of multimedia messaging (MMS) conveying animation, photos, and audio and video files will be accessed via mobile devices in 2003.
However, researchers warn that the success of the mobile Internet depends on strategic long-term partnerships between network operators, service providers, and content providers.
"No one company is equipped to offer end-to-end service, partnerships are a strategic component in the development of wireless applications and services that will find a broad market," said USC's Elizabeth Fife, the report's author.
Mobile data service must be simple, convenient, secure, and reliable. This entails looking closely at how people use their wire devices today, and extending these behaviors to a broadband environment, reported Fife.
Experts surveyed believe that ring tones, games, chat services and other amusements lacking productivity benefits are not the keys to mass market wireless adoption in 2003. The overall global market will move forward with useful and easy services and devices.
According to Fife, "It is the simple kinds of information and communication-based services that still have greater potential over the next year, rather than high-speed data services - including entertainment related services, wireless shopping, multimedia, and video-based services."
Added Fife, the experts do not view 3G (Third Generation) networks as part of the immediate plan to grow mobile wireless subscription in the U.S. The apparent reason is lack of demand in the U.S. for mobile communication compared to Europe or Japan, where deployment will likely happen first. Still unclear to the experts is whether 3G will provide anything compelling enough to consumers and businesses to justify hefty investments.
While successes in Finland, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere may offer some clues for the U.S. market, the report's consensus discourages too close a focus on strategies and business models that have bolstered wireless markets abroad. Pricing and revenue models are largely not transferable and American consumer habits and biases are unique.
The report advocates a clear need to understand how customers live and use their wireless devices to improve everyday convenience.
The Telecom Outlook Report on Wireless analyzes M-commerce consumer market forecasts, business models to support wireless data revenues, the enterprise market, device connectivity, international comparisons and wireless network infrastructure. It is published by International Engineering Consortium (IEC).
USC's Center for Telecom Management is the world's only research and education institute within a top-ranked business school devoted to the networked digital industry and the customers they serve.
ABOUT USC Marshall School of Business
USC's Marshall School of Business provides the foundation for a process of lifetime learning and business practice. Both U.S. News & World Report and Business Week rank Marshall's programs among the top 20. For more than 80 years, Marshall has provided world-class research and scholarship, preparing students for the future of business. Marshall with its many research centers and Leventhal School of Accounting focuses on a core set of skills and on strengthening its position as a global center of business education and research at the graduate, undergraduate and executive levels.
For more information on TOR findings, call Dr. Elizabeth Fife at the USC Center for Telecom Management, 213-740-0980.
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