SAN JOSE, Calif.-Dataquest, a global market research and consulting company, predicted the U.S. cellular market will grow 30 percent in 1996, from 32.1 million subscribers to 41.8 million, and could reach as many as 69.8 million subscribers by 2000. Nearly half of these subscribers will be digital subscribers, the company said.
Dataquest attributed the projected growth to the introduction of personal communications services to the market and technologies such as smart phones, which offer subscribers e-mail, fax, paging and voice capabilities.
“The entrance of PCS operators into the marketplace is causing confusion among some consumers,” said John Ledahl, director of Dataquest’s personal communications program. “This will straighten out once consumers benefit from what PCS brings to the market. One of the most noticeable advantages for consumers will be lower cellular prices with PCS.”
The average monthly revenue per subscriber will reach $59 per month by the end of this year, the company said, and revenue will drop to $45 per month by 2000.
Additional data is presented in a market trends report titled “1996 Personal Communications Services in North America.” The report provides forecasts for the U.S. cellular, PCS, paging, narrowband PCS and wireless data industries.
