BOSTON-Wireless consumers increasingly are interested in bundled services from a single provider and consolidated billing, according to a recent study by the Yankee Group.
Sixty-three percent of the total wireless user base is interested in a single provider, and the number goes up to 73 percent among customers spending more than $50 per month on wireless services.
More than half of wireless consumers also are interested in enhanced services like personal number services and electronic personal assistant. PNS customers can use one phone number for work, home and wireless communications.
To date, fewer than 2 percent of wireless users subscribe to a PNS, but the study found that 56 percent of current wireless users are interested in a PNS.
Electronic personal assistants take the PNS concept a step further by integrating a voice-user interface as a gateway into the application suite. Electronic personal assistants can take messages, announce callers and keep track of schedules. PNS and EPA products have improved significantly during the past two years due to improved voice-recognition technology, integration with the Internet and parallel processing of computer platforms, providing lower risk for carriers.
