Canadian Internet Users Interested in Web Enabled Cellphones

About six in ten adult Canadian Internet users own a cellphone, with more than half using them as secondary personal phones and 21% using them mainly for business purposes, suggests a study by the market research firm NFO CFgroup.

The firm's annual Wireless Telephony study found that while just 5% of online Canadians plan to cancel their landline home phone service and go wireless only, about 12% are currently using their cellphones as their primary personal phone.

"Cellphone ownership is higher among those who use the Internet than those who do not. For a good indication of the market potential of new wireless devices, surveying the online population is a good place to start," said David Stark, public affairs director of NFO CFgroup.

The study found that 8% of online Canadians are using Web-enabled cellphones, mainly for e-mail, compared to just 4% of all Canadians. Lower access prices, bigger screens and more content would attract additional users of Web-enabled cellphones, with one in four online adults expressing interest in the devices. Another emerging wireless device, PDA cellphones, appeals to 15% of online Canadians, most of whom say they would want the device to be Web-enabled. The study also found support for location-based mobile Web services, with a majority of online Canadians saying that they would be interested in receiving driving directions, weather reports and traffic updates through their cellphones."

Posted to the site on 6th March 2002