Marginal Wireless Customers
Hey, it's not only spam that wireless carriers have to worry about. According to a 1,200-person survey done by Bear Stearns, it's apparently going to be far less lucrative to pursue new wireless customers in the U.S. The investment firm said new customers will only spend $30 a month, making it difficult to make much of a profit from them. Given this bleak view on wireless economics, it may mean carriers will take more interest in pre-paid services and MVNO relationships.
The Bear Stearns survey is the second less-than-positive take on a fast-emergingconsumer technology. Earlier this year, J.P. Morgan conducted a survey that suggested only 35% people had an interest in subscribing to satellite radio. J.P. Morgan also discovered that 62% of people interested in satellite radio would want it for commercial-free music, rather than sports or personalities such as Howard Stern, who signed a US$100-milion with Sirius.
