Event Promotion
Business looks forward to 3G: Survey
25-01-2005
by Ralph Averbuch
Almost eight in ten respondents said they are looking forward to the benefits of 3G, although video calling is not their top priority according to a recent ENN/Nokia Ireland survey.
During November 2004, Nokia Ireland surveyed ENN's website readership to gather their views on mobile usage. Almost 600 took part, shedding light on what we want from our mobiles in 2005.
Eighty percent of those participating said they look forward to the benefits that 3G technology promises to bring to mobile communications. However, don't assume it's because everyone wants to make video calls. This feature only appealed to 17 percent of participants. The number one reason selected, with almost 40 percent of people, was an "increase in efficiency of mobile phone as computing tool." However, a significant minority, just over 22 percent, said that 3G was not a priority to their business.
Sixty-five percent believe that the introduction of 3G technology to the marketplace will increase the use of integrated solutions to their businesses.
The survey also highlighted total saturation of the office encvironment with 99.8 percent regularly using their mobile phones. After mobiles, the next most popular tools were laptops and digital cameras, proving to be useful to 82 percent. Around 30 percent of workers regularly access their e-mail via their mobiles, with 22 percent using an alternative method such as Wi-Fi hotspots.
The main reason stated for e-mailing via mobile was convenience at 80 percent, with one in every four people saying they felt that mobile email was very user-friendly. E-mail generally has total penetration of the business market with 99.6 percent using it at work, and home use not far behind at over 86 percent.
Another aspect highlighted was handset features of most value to business users. Sixty seven percent said battery life was the most important feature, followed by contact lists at 61 percent. Content storage on mobile phones seems to be becoming more important to Irish office workers with 37 percent listing memory capacity as the most important feature on their phone.
"We are delighted that the survey results are indicating a positive and welcoming attitude towards 3G technology from businesses," said Jackie Brannigan, marketing manager, customer & market operations at Nokia Ireland. "The technology will revolutionise business mobility solutions, offering Irish office workers the freedom to access information and resources to remain competitive and on top in their jobs. Mobile phones have already become an essential piece of every office worker's kit and are becoming more important in terms of anytime, anywhere, any device access for people on the move."
Sheila M. Averbuch, editor of ElectricNews.Net, said "The results show a genuine appetite for 3G among Irish users. This is a technology that the majority of our readers fully intend to use. Operators will need to put substantial resources into ensuring service reliability, and offering knowledgeable support to users if they want to convert this initial interest into real enthusiasm."
Other notable findings included:
- almost 40 percent of participants have some form of MP3 device for mobile entertainment
- most (80 percent) people choose their own work mobile
- over 40 percent use instant messaging
- over 40 percent of staff spend between one and two hours each day working away from their desks
- over 10 percent spend more than half their day away from their desk or office
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