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Cellular mobile phones are often regarded as a fairly recent innovation, however, they have been freely available in the UK for over 20 years.
The first type of mobile phone was large and cumbersome and similar in size to a large briefcase. These phones were analogue based and in the early days not overly reliable, due to the two existing network operators needing to install an effective infrastructure of network coverage quickly.
With the launch of the second generation (2G), consumer popularity rose steadily. Mobile phones became smaller and easier to handle. Network coverage improved greatly and it became more reliable.
During the period between December 1999 to December 2000 a total of 46,000 new users a day joined the UK mobile phone network. 5.1 million phones were bought in the UK during the 2000 Christmas period.
Number of mobile connections
Mobile Phone Usage
In its report, 'The Communications Market Report 2008' Ofcom provides the following information ending December 2007 (with some data from Q1 2008 where available):
There are almost 74 million mobile connections
At the end of 2007 four in five households now have both a mobile phone and a landline phone and the proportion of households relying on mobile phones exclusively was 11%. 86% of adults own a mobile phone.
Total voice and data revenues increased to £15.1 billion in 2007.
40% of voice call minutes were made from mobile phones.
99 billion minutes of outbound calls were made in 2007. The average outbound calls per mobile connection rose to over 116 minutes per month in 2007.
44% of UK adults use text messaging on a daily basis in Q1 2008. The UK consumer is sending an average of 67 text messages a month per mobile connection with usage increasing by 32% in 2007.
The number of 3G subscriptions grew by 4.7 million to 12.5 million at the end of 2007.
Network
At the start of 2008 there were about 50,300 base station sites in the UK. Two-thirds of these are installed on existing buildings or structures. Less than 2% are mounted on schools.
UK Economy and GDP associated with the mobile phone industry:
The continual increase in demand for mobile communications has contributed significantly to the welfare of the UK economy. In 2003 the number of employees dependent on the mobile phone sector rose to around 197,000. The industry contributes £15 billion a year to government finances*.
| 1993/4 | £1.3 billion |
| 1997/8 | £4.6 billion |
| 1998/9 | £5.2 billion |
| 2000 | £22.0 billion* |
The UK is one of the most advanced telecommunications markets in Europe and provides the lowest prices for mobile phone usage. With the speed of new technology within the telecoms industry, the swift introduction of the new third generation (3G) over the next few years will be key to maintaining the UK's competitive edge.