WASHINGTON-The specialized mobile radio industry will surpass two million subscribers by the end of this year, according to a new survey of operators and manufacturers conducted by the American Mobile Telecommunications Association and Economic and Management Consultants International Inc.
Although this is a 13 percent increase compared with the 1994 subscriber base, net subscriber growth is slightly lower when compared with recent years due to increased network congestion at 800 MHz, the startup of commercial digital SMR service and limited construction activity in other land mobile radio frequency bands, AMTA-EMCI said. Industry growth during 1995 is expected to be evenly shared between dispatch services and interconnect services.
Average monthly service revenues for dispatch subscribers increased from $15.60 in 1994 to $16.50 in 1995, according to the survey.
In contrast, average monthly revenues per interconnected unit declined from $52.70 to $50.70. The decline in monthly revenue coincides with recent declines in monthly cellular revenue per subscriber, AMTA-EMCI said.
Average monthly service revenues for cellular subscribers also fell from $56.21 in 1994 to $52.45 in 1995.
EMCI is a strategic and economic consulting firm focusing on mobile communications markets worldwide. AMTA is a trade association serving the specialized mobile radio industry.
