March 21, 2001 (from CTIA) – Most cell users in the U.S. are loyal to their carriers and the wireless voice industry is poised for "significant growth opportunities," according to two studies released by Telephia.

Despite the good news, both findings come with the caveats that providers need to pay attention to customer needs – and hope that the analysts are correct in their forecast that the U.S. wireless market will follow Europe's lead.

In its quarterly Churn Report, the San Francisco-based research group found that of those who had paid for wireless service at some point in the past year, 12 percent switched to a new provider and 73 percent "remained loyal to their provider."

However, Telephia also noted that the rate of switching varied considerably among the 10 markets it regularly surveys.

For example, according to the report, while the rate in the Chicago market fell "closely in line with the overall average of 12 percent," the churn rate in Dallas-Fort Worth was double (16 percent) that of Los Angeles (8 percent).

"Such significant rate differences among markets," the report concludes, "strongly suggest the need for highly targeted customer retention campaigns by carriers."

Growth Is In the Forecast

In a second study released this week, Telephia found that subscriber penetration rates in the country's largest urban areas span a relatively wide range of 36 to 48 percent.

According to the findings, New York and Los Angeles, the two largest markets, both rank among the bottom three – and below the average of the top 10 – with regard to penetration, with rates of 38 percent and 36 percent respectively. Washington, D.C., and Boston register the highest penetration rates. The number of wireless subscribers in both markets approaches half of the total market population.

If analysts are correct in their forecasts that the U.S. rates will reach the 70-to-80 percent levels clocked in Europe, North American carriers can look forward to "significant growth opportunities."

Notes John Oyler, president of Telephia, the differences in rates between markets suggest that there is plenty of room for carriers to grow their subscriber bases at the market level.

"Competition within markets is fierce and here to stay," said Oyler, "and as providers continue to refine and develop their service offerings, consumers will turn to the tremendous benefits of wireless communication in even greater numbers."

In other news, Telephia announced a strategic relationship with digiMine, Inc., which provides data warehousing and data mining services. The link, said Telephia, will offer carriers the first service for "revealing meaningful patterns and actionable insights" through managing and analyzing server-based data streams. DigiMine was founded in March 2000 by three Microsoft veterans.