LONDON-Optimism prevails in the mobile communications industry, according to the ARC Group’s new “3GSM 2004 Industry Survey.”
In fact, according to the survey, 85 percent of industry professionals believe their companies’ profitability will grow in 2004, with 16 percent believing their profitability will increase by more than 20 percent during the year. In addition, an outstanding 95 percent of those surveyed said they believe the market for their products and services will improve in 2004.
Meanwhile, 30 percent of operator respondents said they think capital expenditures will increase by up to 10 percent this year; 21 percent think it will increase by 10 percent to 20 percent; and 10 percent believe it will increase by more than 20 percent. Still, 15 percent of operators believe their capital expenditures will decrease this year.
Respondents reported mixed results on expectations for commercial launches of UMTS and EDGE networks, but ARC said about 35 percent believe their home operators will launch both UMTS and EDGE services in 2004.
Furthermore, respondents from all regions expect subscribers using third-generation services in 2004 will be limited, with most expecting less than 5 percent of any operators’ subscribers to use 3G this year. The biggest potential barrier to 3G services is reportedly handset availability, followed by the availability of services. Meanwhile, time to market and available applications will be key issues affecting handset vendor success this year.
The report also showed that this year mobile enterprise applications will outdo infotainment, mobile video, short messaging service, push to talk, mobile gambling, adult content, mobile music, mobile games and ring tones as the hottest content and applications.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are likely to be the hottest short-range wireless technologies this year, with RFID, near-field communications, and ultra-wideband technologies lagging behind. Meanwhile, 12 percent of industry professionals believe Wi-Fi hot spots will significantly impact their business strategies this year, 38 percent see that as a possibility, and 26 percent see it as quite likely.
For the survey, 365 industry professionals, 43 percent of which were mobile operators, were interviewed.
