Messaging is the message

Results of a new market research study suggest that wireless network operators of all kinds might be underestimating the potential market for enhanced messaging services.

The survey, conducted by Driscoll/Wolfe Marketing and Research Consulting, assesses the interest of business and consumer wireless customers in using services ranging from one-way text messaging to wireless Internet access. The study finds that most are interested in some form of enhanced text messaging (see figure).

To date, however, most personal communication services and digital cellular operators have largely ignored enhanced messaging opportunities, choosing instead to concentrate on digital voice services.

"There is interest in text messaging, but wireless customers are used to voice," said Clem Driscoll, principal of Driscoll/Wolfe. "Carriers have to give consumers reasons to use text messaging."

Carriers should concentrate on marketing messaging services that are easy to use and don't substantially increase service costs, Driscoll said. They should push services that deliver messages without ringing the phone, providing an additional level of convenience, he said.

Only a small number of the study's participants were interested in wireless e-mail and wireless Internet access, and they were mostly mobile professionals. Some of the major hurdles to implementing more advanced text messaging capabilities are the small display screen on wireless handsets and the requirement of using a numeric keypad to generate text messages, Driscoll said.