IDC: Mobile services market to reach US$30B by 2006
The worldwide market for mobile and professional services will grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 58.5 per cent to be worth US$30.4 billion by 2006, according to estimates released recently by research firm IDC.
IDC defines this market as consulting, implementation, operations, support, and training services activities performed when extending mobile or wireless access to enterprise applications on new or existing infrastructure. North and South America are the fastest-growing services markets, expected to maintain a CAGR of 73 per cent between now and 2006, when the market will be worth US$13.3 billion, or 43.7 per cent of the global market, IDC said.
Toronto airport shuts off cell phone service
Although we recently celebrated our wireless heritage as the site of the first trans-Atlantic radio transmission, we recently set another wireless record: One of our airports began shutting off cellular telephone service as part of what carriers say is a fight over revenue sharing.
Though the cell phone shutdown at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport is believed to be the first instance of an airport taking such drastic action, Jeff Kagan, an Atlanta-based wireless communications analyst, said it might not be the last. In order to provide wireless service in an airport, cellular carriers install indoor antennas and associated electronics throughout the facility, Louis Turpen, president of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) said in a statement. That equipment, Turpen said, needs to be upgraded. The authority decided to shut down cell service because the carriers “refused to make the required investment to improve the service.” Turpen said the four carriers – Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility, Microcell Telecommunications and Rogers AT&T Wireless Inc. – provide travelers with what he called “antiquated cellular telecommunications service.” The companies’ licences to provide cellular service at Pearson expired in July, and since then, the GTAA has started a gradual shutdown of the airport cellular infrastructure. The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association disputed Turpen’s take, saying in a statement that the problem arose from a demand by the GTAA for an increase in revenue “of up to 500 per cent and control of public wireless facilities” at Pearson.
