Alphanumeric paging is making a turnaround in the U.S. marketplace. It’s easier to use, more spectrum-efficient and may open a gateway for service providers to sign on two-way messaging customers.
Alphanumeric paging is on the rise. According to Roberta Wiggins, director of wireless/mobile communications for Cambridge, Mass.-based Yankee Group, alphanumeric paging comprised 7 percent of the U.S. paging market in 1993, 9 percent in 1994 and likely will reach 11 percent by the end of this year.
Statistics from Economic and Management Consultants International Inc., Washington, D.C., point in the same direction. The firm found alphanumeric accounted for about 7 percent of the U.S. paging market in 1993 and 1994 and anticipates growth will reach 9 percent this year. Elliot Hamilton, director of U.S. wireless practice for EMCI, said the firm projects alphanumeric will reach 15 percent market share during the next several years.
In past years, numeric paging has been a more practical sell for carriers as alphanumeric consumes significantly more bandwidth. Numeric service is less expensive than alphanumeric, but for some providers signing on significantly more numeric customers has generated greater revenue.
Today many carriers are equipped with more bandwidth. As such, some are promoting alphanumeric more heavily now, said Wiggins.
Scott Baradell, manager of corporate communications for Paging Network Inc., explained that a POCSAG channel provides minimal capacity, contributing to alphanumeric’s sluggish market entrance. With the innovation of FLEX technology designed by Motorola Inc., “the capacity of our paging channels more than doubles,” said Baradell. “FLEX is very efficient for sending alphanumeric…It was designed with alpha in mind.”
From the perspective of many paging users, numeric has been the popular choice for reasons of cost, ease of use and because phones are so often nearby, it’s simple enough to call people back. Conversely, inconvenience and impracticality have characterized alphanumeric paging and outweighed its capability to send short messages directly. Transmitting with alphanumeric has required using a personal computer equipped with modem and special software or placing a lengthy phone call to a central operator to relay messages in text, explained Baradell. In the United States, most alphanumeric users have been executives, said Baradell.
However, alphanumeric paging succeeds in countries where basic phone service is either nonexistent or sparse, of poor quality and expensive. In these areas paging is an alternative to phone service.
Today, a growing number of people use personal computers and modems, and therefore have access to on-line services, a new and popular method for sending alpha messages, said Baradell. PageNet’s nationwide alphanumeric customers can send messages over the Internet in the form of e-mail and to specific web sites, said Baradell.
A downside to alphanumeric via Internet e-mail, conceded Baradell, is that users may experience slow transmission at times of heavy e-mail traffic.
Finally, Baradell explained paging users are demanding more from service, including message content. Alphanumeric paging is limited to one-way communication, but provides features similar to expected two-way offerings.
