Sales Of Wireless Internet Access Devices Poised To Double In The Next Twelve Months

Canada will continue to be at the forefront of the evolution of the Internet, as one-in-ten online Canadians plan on purchasing a wireless Internet device in the next twelve months, according to the results of an Angus Reid Group online survey conducted among 1,125 web users in March. This is more than double the proportion that currently own such devices (4%).

Traditionally, technology growth has been driven by young male consumers, and wireless Internet access devices will be no different. Thirteen percent of online males plan to purchase a device versus only 6 percent of online females, and interest is highest (13%) among those between 18 to 34 years of age compared to only 3 percent of those 55 and older.

"Canadians continue to show their willingness to embrace new technology", said Steve Mossop, Senior Vice President and leader of the company's Canadian Internet practice. "This is encouraging for the wireless device manufacturers, as it shows demand exists in Canada for these products. With so much of the Canadian market currently untapped, and the high level of interest in these devices, the potential for growth is huge" Mossop said. "With the wireless market offering Smart Phones, Interactive Pagers, and Personal Digital Assistants, it will be interesting to watch who becomes the dominant player in this lucrative market."

Not surprisingly, skilled internet users, frequent online shoppers, and higher income Canadians are most likely to indicate they will purchase one of these devices within the next year.

"It appears that the early adopters of wireless Internet access devices will follow the same pattern that was found with early Internet adopters," says Mr. Mossop. "The early days of the Internet found a community that was predominately male, well educated, and high income. This profile is being replicated in the wireless arena."

The "Canadian Inter@ctive Reid Report" is the largest, most comprehensive and authoritative source of its kind about quarterly Internet trends in Canada. The results are based on two separate data collection instruments. In the first, 1,125 web users from Angus Reid Group's Canadian Internet Panel are surveyed online. Panelists are chosen through random telephone surveys conducted on an ongoing basis across Canada. Results are complemented by a further 1,500 interviews via telephone with Canadian adults in order to verify results of the pane, and track issues among non-Internet users.

These data are statistically weighted to reflect the population proportions of regular online users by length of access to the Internet and online expertise, regional distribution, as well as demographics such as gender, age and income. Our panelists represent approximately 11.4 million Canadian adult Internet users who are online for one hour a week or more (there are a total of 14.4 million adults who have Internet access - but not everyone can be classified as a regular user).

With a national sample of 1,000 and 1,500 (for each component), one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results are within a maximum of 177 3.1 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire population of Canada's regular online users been surveyed.-The margin of error will be larger for sub-groupings of the survey population.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Steve Mossop
Senior Vice President
Angus Reid Group
(604) 257-3200