Mobile Phone Stats>
Mobile phone subscriptions surge in 1998
Electronics Times
by Sandy Morrison
Mobile phone operators are reporting record-breaking increases in UK
subscribers, thanks largely to a Christmas boom in purchases of prepayment
phones.
Both Vodafone and Orange reported a growth of more than 80% in their
customer base during 1998, with approximately half of that growth
attributable to the last quarter.
Vodafone connected 933,000 mobile phone customers in the last quarter of
1998, including 755,000 on its Pay as You Talk service and 500,000 in
December alone.
Orange now has more than two million subscribers, 960,000 of them gained
during 1998 and 512,000 of those during the last quarter. Orange's Just
Talk service is used by 22.5% of its subscriber base but 64% of those
connected during the last quarter.
Shares in both companies rose sharply following the announcement of these
figures, as did shares in BT and Cable & Wireless, both of which have
interests in mobile phone networks.
But Vodafone has been ordered by the Independent Television Commission
to withdraw its advertising for Pay as You Talk. The Commission
considered the advertisements misleading as they fail to mention the need to
keep up payments to retain network access.
Keith Westcott, MD of Ericsson Mobile Phones UK, admits to being
surprised by the extent of the surge in demand at the end of 1998. He
expects rapid growth to continue because "once a market reaches 20%
penetration, you have an acceleration in the use of mobile phones. This has
been clearly seen already in the Scandinavian market."
He feels that prepayment tariffs have created a different market segment as
phones can be readily given to children or the elderly for emergency use.
These packages mostly use basic models, but Westcott believes "a younger
audience will want more features", and that many will upgrade to more
expensive phones after 12 months or so.
(Copyright 1999) |
