OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-The combined total of cellular and personal communications services devices will be in the hundreds of millions by 2000, said Allied Business Intelligence Inc. in its report, “The Wireless World Strategic Outlook.”
The report evaluated six categories of wireless technology and studied each area’s market history and its projected direction. Cellular telephony, direct broadcast systems, global positioning systems and PCS systems are all heavily oriented toward the consumer market or have potential consumer applications, reported the study.
Cellular and PCS subscriber counts are expected to grow at a compound average annual rate of 25 percent well into the next century, said Allied Business.
DBS subscriber counts will pass the 2 million mark by the first of the year, and the incorporation of GPS circuitry into vehicle navigation systems and cellular telephony will bring this technology into common use, concluded the study.
Allied Business predicts GPS receivers in their stand-alone configurations and in their function as system enhancements will generate more than $5 billion annually by 2000.
Satellite driven very small aperture terminals (VSATs) and wireless local area networks both have the potential to grow in the wireless market, said the study. From its base of 150,000 terminals in 1994, the VSAT market will approach 500,000 installed terminals early in the next century.
WLANs are finding specialized applications both in the United States and offshore, said Allied Business.
By adapting their flexible communications potential to regions with limited wired infrastructure, WLANs are realizing their potential in the world marketplace.
