|
Article Excerpt
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The Current Trend
Montana's landline telephone service providers are losing active lines at an annual rate of 2 to 7 percent, estimated Geoffrey Feiss, .general manager of the Montana Telecommunications Association. At the same time, Montana's largest wireless provider, Verizon, invested more than $125 million in growing Montana's wireless network over the past five years and reported wireless phone usage up an average of 32 percent in 2006.
Qwest, Montana's largest land-line provider, reported an almost 8 percent decrease in active land lines between 2006 and 2007, while during that same period, Qwest's wireless subscribers grew by almost 5 percent in the company's 14-state coverage area.
Nationwide, consumers are increasingly relying on wireless service as their primary phones, some even eliminating land-line service all together. The National Center for Health Statistics reported 15.8 percent of American households using wireless service as their only telephones as of May 2008. Andrew Arthur, vice president of market solutions for the research firm Mediamark Research and Intelligence, found that number to be as high as 16 percent in 2007. Still, the majority of households, about 70 percent, had both wireless and land-line service.
In 2007, American households spent more on wireless phone services than land lines for the first time, reported the Associated Press. But, even more interesting, Arthur said, is that the total penetration of cell phones is now higher than land lines, meaning that the average household is more likely to have a cell phone than a land line. While not all land line losses in Montana can be directly linked to increased cell use, the correlation is significant. And although Montana's sparse population poses limitations to wireless coverage, most industry officials agree that statewide trends closely mirror what is happening nationwide.
"Montana has a tendency to think of itself as different from the rest of the country. But in reality, the economy is pretty free flowing, and we're not [so different]," said Dave Gibson, president of Montana Qwest. When it comes to consumer goods, Gibson said, Montana closely aligns with the rest of the country, and wireless trends are no different.
It is difficult to break down the numbers into state-by-state figures without compromising their credibility, especially in a state as sparsely populated as Montana, Arthur explained, because, as the number of people surveyed gets smaller, the data become increasingly less reliable. But, in the region of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado, Arthur found that 20 to 25 percent of people had gone wireless-only.
"The trend in Montana is essentially the same as nationally," said Jonathan Foxman, president and CEO of Cellular One, formerly Chinook Wireless. The benefits of wireless service, including mobility, security, and convenience, are compelling, Foxman said. "When the quality and coverage is sufficient that people can rely on wireless, they begin to question why they need wire-lines."
In Montana, however, the quality and coverage haven't yet reached that point, he said. Therefore, not all Montanans have the option to go wireless. For this reason, Montana is behind the adoption curve compared to more metropolitan states.
But, he said, it is catching up quickly. Cellular One, Chinook Wireless at the time, built 50 new cell towers in Montana in 2007, and Foxman is convinced that the demand for wireless coverage in Montana is growing along with the rest of the nation.
Simply put, "It's going to happen," said Gibson of the trend toward wireless in Montana. To keep their customers, Montana land-line providers, large and small alike, must offer a variety of options, including wireless in some cases. Other services such as high-speed Internet and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), basically phone services through the Internet, also offset the loss of residential land lines. "Right now, there are more and more choices. Consumers have options, and that's a good thing," Gibson said.
Still, much of Montana remains...
|
