Even though North Americans have embraced the PC and the wired Internet, they have not been as enthusiastic about using wireless devices for Internet access as their European and Asian counterparts. However, there are indications that this is about to change.

According to a recently released survey by Ipsos-Reid for Burntsand, Inc., a solutions integrator, North Americans are starting to use wireless devices for Internet access more readily.

The mandate of the survey of 2,500 Canadians and Americans was to determine the use and penetration of wireless communication in the exchange of business information and to assess the environment for m-commerce, said Burntsand. However, it is unclear, in the abstracts of the report, how the authors defined the term ‘m-commerce’.

• Over 56 percent of users reported conducting business conversations via wireless phones.
• E-mail exchange was used by 16.5 percent, while 14.5 percent conducted financial transactions.
• More than half believed wireless is less secure than wireline devices, while 28 percent said wireless communication is "more than" or "just as" secure as traditional means.
• Nearly 20 percent of wireless users checked bank balances via wireless devices.
• The purchase of goods and services via a wireless device was reported by 17 percent of the respondents.
• Only four percent reported buying or selling stocks.
• Of those using wireless devices for business communication, 36 percent reported that their companies did not have a policy on the communication of confidential information.
• Wireless devices were used by 65 percent while 91 percent reported using a cellular phone.
• Pagers were used by 28 percent of users, while 10 percent reported using wireless modems to transmit data.
• Only five percent of the respondents used PDAs.

This survey shows that the majority of North Americans have already been using wireless communication in their business and personal lives, said Tome Healey, chief marketing officer for Burntsand. The report also reveals that users are concerned about security and privacy issues.

Perhaps, this is a signal to industry players and enterprises that they will have to place greater importance on security issues before m-commerce will attract a mass market.