Most U.S. Cell Phone Users Still Don’t Bother with Wireless Data Services

Press Release - 6:05 am on January 5, 2007

Despite the efforts of carriers to promote the use of 3G wireless data services, a large majority of American cell phone users still aren’t interested, a new study by IDC suggests.

In a sample of over 2,500 U.S. wireless subscribers, 72.5% said that they didn’t routinely use any data services aside from plain old text messaging. Price is apparently a major contributing factor to this trend, especially in the key 18 to 24-year-old demographic, where 47% of users described mobile data services as “too expensive.”

“The fact that four out of ten survey respondents feel they are overpaying for data services does not bode well for the future of this market,” commented IDC research manager, Lewis Ward. “The survey also revealed a small group of U.S. consumers that believes data services are a bad idea, or worse, degrades the calling experience. Education may help this issue, but it’s clear from the survey results that many people just want to use their mobile phone to make calls.”