Wireless use is rising, a trend that even the simplest of surveys could detect. Many surveys are conducted to track where wireless technology and applications might be going, but few can match the quality and thoroughness of the annual study performed by the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA, www.tiaonline.org). The organization's latest report, the TIA's 2007 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast, features 37 pages of index alone, with more than 450 tables and figures to support its findings on wired and wireless telecommunications trends.
Some of the obvious findings are the increasing reliance in the United States on wireless services, with some customers giving up completely on landline services. The report found that wireless revenue passed landline revenue in 2006, and will be 59 percent greater by 2010. Prepaid wireless, one of the fastest-growing wireless segments, grew from 12 million users in 2002 to 30 million in 2006, projected to exceed 55 million by 2010. Wireless data and multimedia make up only 6 percent of wireless revenues in 2006, but that figure will be 24 percent by 2010.
The study is a masterpiece for those who track wireless and other communications trends. The convenience of wireless services is obvious, and growth in wireless use is spurred as much by a desire for entertainment as a need for business functionality. The more they use wireless, the more they want to use it.