Small and medium business users in small markets are just as likely to adopt voice-over-IP--however, the applications they want are significantly different than those of their counterparts in larger cities, according to a report put out today by The Yankee Group.

The conclusion was based on a survey that divided up SMB users into four tiers where tier one and two represented city and suburban users, while tiers three and four included exurban and rural markets, respectively. Tier three markets in many ways are just as competitive as tier one and tier two markets, though the competition tends to come from rural telcos using an edge-out strategy, said Steve Hilton, small and medium business strategies director for The Yankee Group. Tier four markets, however, tend to not be very competitive and likely won’t be for some time.

Perhaps the most interesting element of the study found that tier three and four SMBs are interested in applications such as find me/follow me and unified mailboxes in greater numbers than those in tier one and tier two markets. In its survey, Yankee Group found that 25% of SMBs in tier three and tier four markets would adopt find me/follow while only 17% of tier one SMBs would be interested in the same application.

“What it comes down to is the way life is for SMBs in rural markets,” Hilton said. “If you’re a sales guy out there, you’re all over the place. We talk a lot about mobility and the mobile work force. In rural markets they have the same kind of propensity of workers that travel locally or long-distance, but they have lower propensity to have telecommuters.”