Local governments to spend $8.6 bln on wireless in 2010

Juniper Research finds that the global market for mobile and wireless hardware, software and services in local government will grow exponentially from $802 mln in 2005 to $8.6 bln in 2010. Local government mobile and wireless expenditure on systems software will rise from $0.12 bln (2005) to $1.3 bln (2010), overtaking expenditure on systems hardware, which will stand at $1.1 bln by 2010. Portable and handheld end-user telecommunications devices will form the largest component of overall local government expenditure on mobile and wireless systems will generate revenues of $3.4 bln by 2010. Advances in memory capacity, display and input technology, and seamless interoperability will gradually raise the number of handheld devices acquired annually for local authority use to 10 mln by 2010, overtaking procurement of wireless laptops.