It may be small potatoes compared to the billions of hamburgers served up by McDonald’s over the years, but the people at Research In Motion Ltd. were pleased to report this week that there are now more than 1 million people using their BlackBerry devices.
The hand-held wireless gadgets that enable users to send and receive e-mail were first embraced five years ago by on-the-go business people and have gradually extended their market ever since.
“BlackBerry is now the first integrated wireless data platform to reach the 1 million subscriber mark,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and founder of RIM.
He said reaching that milestone was good news for the entire wireless data industry–and that is likely the case.
But another recent report puts the news into perspective.
When it comes to wireless data, the North American market lags far behind the rest of the world. A report from EMC noted that last September saw worldwide mobile data subscribers hit the 100 million mark.
“By the end of January, we expect the total number of mobile data subscribers is likely to have exceeded 115 million,” said Kester Mann, a senior research analyst with EMC.
That means about 7.7 percent of the 1.29 billion global mobile communications subscribers are using data services while the rest stick to voice. Korea and Japan lead the data pack.
Asia accounts for more than 75 percent of the world’s wireless data subscribers, according to the EMC report. The European market accounts for more than 15 percent.
The United States and Canada, where wired connections to the Internet are widespread, account for just a bit more than 5 percent of worldwide wireless data subscribers.
Cellular scores: It will soon be three months since wireless customers could keep their phone numbers when they change carriers, and after some initial snafus, most kinks have been worked out of the process.
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Jack Rooney, chief of Chicago-based U.S. Cellular Corp., said that his firm is benefiting from number portability, gaining three customers for every two it loses.
“We spent $50 million to put our portability systems in place,” Rooney said, “and it’s paying off.”
In the coming year, U.S. Cellular plans to establish service in Oklahoma City, Lincoln, Neb., and Portland, Maine. It also plans to start serving St. Louis, Rooney said, but the timing of that venture isn’t yet certain.
“Every one of these markets is a natural fit for us,” Rooney said. “Each is adjacent to markets we’re already in.”
Faster Comcast: Comcast Communications Inc.’s cable modem customers are getting a belated Christmas gift, or maybe an early Valentine: a doubling of their downstream Internet connection.
The new data rate, which will be delivered at no extra cost, will be 3 million bits per second, up from 1.5 megabits. To get the new rate, customers need only unplug their modem, wait a minute, and then plug it back in, according to the company. Upstream speeds will continue to be 256,000 bits per second.
As competition has heated up between phone companies that provide broadband through DSL connections and cable TV operators, prices have fallen. A common strategy among providers across the country has been to boost data access speeds to provide a superior product and, the cable folks hope, put an end to skidding prices.