Wireless displacement of wireline services is ‘an emerging realit...
Wireless displacement of wireline services is “an emerging reality” among rural youth, said a survey by NTCA and the Foundation for Rural Service. It said the number of rural teens that “rarely” used the landline phone at home jumped…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
to 20% from 13% last year, and the number of those that “never” used it increased to 14% from 6%. “This trend shows the slow but steady progression of the youth market toward complete disassociation from landline phones,” the study said. It said wireless penetration rate among rural teens was “significantly higher” than estimates for the youth market nationally, with 86% of rural respondents saying they had their own wireless phones. While voice remained dominant in rural areas, the study said text messaging was catching on. It said frequency of wireless phone use among rural teens was on the rise, with 45% of respondents saying they “always” used their wireless phones, up from 38% last year. It said 98% of respondents used their wireless phones “most often” for voice calls, proving voice was “still the killer app, despite increasing industry hype surrounding wireless data services.” But it said text messaging had gained popularity, with 12% of respondents saying they “frequently” used that feature on their phones, compared to 6% last year. The number of respondents saying they “never” used text messaging dropped to 46% from 62%. The study said only 5% of the respondents with wireless service were using prepaid service, compared to 7% last year. Of those with prepaid service, 50% said they had it because their parents bought their phone and plan. “Parental decision makers are a major force behind prepaid wireless, a factor that rural carriers should consider when marketing such services,” the study said. The study also said parents mostly supported traditional contract wireless services, with 60% of respondents saying their parents bought their phones and paid for the service. Safety issues were the main motivation for parental purchases, it said. “The Youth market is vitally important to wireless service providers,” said NTCA Economist Rick Schadelbauer. Citing a Yankee Group report, he said by year-end, 11-24 year old consumers would generate $21 billion in revenue for wireless carriers and represent almost 1/4 of the total cellular market. He also said 56% of NTCA member companies were providing wireless service to their customers and another 23% were considering doing so in the near future.