I was reading the latest column Concise Oxford Dictionary from Michael Quinion, an expert on etymology(no, he doesn’t kill bugs!). He includes this tidbit
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I emailed him and he offered that the info came from the biz pages of the English paper The Guardian.
This blows my mind, if real. I had originally written to him saying that we Americans set the standards of excess in the world, and that I doubt that 85% of US teens have cell phones. He assured me that he thinks British teens have more phones than US teens. I don’t personally believe that either teen population has 85% coverage. Sounds too high to me.
British teens have way, way, way, WAY more mobile phones than teens on this side of the Atlantic… even pre-teens…
going on a train is so funny, cause there are phones ringing everywhere…
I know that my niece and nephew were upset cause their mum wouldn’t let them get one… apparently all their friends have them… they are only 12 & 10.
A number of possible reasons why…
You have to pay for all phone calls in the UK… so mobile phones often offer a cheaper alternative. Plus you only have to pay to MAKE a call, not receive… and pay as you go plans there are good… fill up when you like, lasts as long as you like and you can send free text (SMS) messages… which is what the kids seem to love the most…
Plus you can do other things like have the ringer play your current favourite boy bad/girl band chart topper or display various logos on the display… all things that kids love…
Check out stats for mobile phones in Finland… more people there have mobile phones than regular phones… the vast majority of the population has them… although I don’t know the specifics…
So, then, my next question would be: how much to the cell phone companies charge in Britain(or other European countries)?
In the US, you get about 200 anytime minutes(basically, from early morning 'til about 8-9 at night Monday-Friday) and 300 night and weekend minutes for about $20 US/month. You can get virtually unlimited usage for about $40 US/month.
Is the rate that much different in the UK, or are your basic land phone charges so high that cell phones are a cheap alternative?
I really don’t know much about the rates there… but like I said, you only pay to make a call, not receive it… so if you have a pay as you go phone, there’s almost no reason not to have one…
I borrowed a phone on a recent holiday in the UK and only made one phone call the whole time… but I spent a lot of time surfing the net & sending text messages… all of which were free…
Pretend I’m in the UK on holiday. I borrow a cell phone, make a call(which in the US costs by the minute) and surf the net, etc. But I’m paying for the time that I am on that original call.
How did you surf the net for free? I don’t understand.
My friend, who’s originally from P.I., tells me that there are a lot of cell phones in the Phillipines because it takes forever to get regular phone service, and that wired service is lousy.
Is that a factor elsewhere?
Remember, the markup on cell usage is huge.
Peace,
mangeorge
I would like to stress that I live in Canada, so I’m not an expert on UK mobile phone plans…
However, the net surfing was not like calling an ISP with a modem… it’s mobile phone specific surfing… so only web sites setup for mobile phones will work… for example, I could not connect to ebay, but I could connect to yahoo canada to check the news headlines every day. Most of the net surfing I did however was to connect to the phone companies web site (very similar setup to hotmail) to send email to friends in Canada. The phone I used was Pay as You go type… The month I was there internet surfing was was free, but normally you had to pay for it… I believe there are plans that give you it for free, but then you’d be making up for it by paying for something else… you know the drill I’m sure…
Another feature I used a lot of was text messaging (SMS - If you use ICQ you can send SMS messages with it). This is hugely popular in Europe… it’s almost non existant over hear though… only one cell phone company in Canada is capable of receiving them, but you can’t send them… I believe most companies in the USA cannot use SMS either. This is sending a message directly to another mobile phone using the phones number as the “address”… This is (I believe) universally free… it’s a “given” service you get with your phone… this is probably what makes them so popular with children.
As for general use, remember that phones operate differently in the UK than here… there’s no such thing as free"local calls". Well, I believe that a “local call” is a cheaper rate, but even if you phone your next door neighbour, you pay… but if you have a mobile, you can call anywhere in the country… same rate… whereas here the location you call can change the rate…
Again, there’s a ton of different companies, plans, types of phones, etc, etc, etc
The selection is greater than over here and the phones generally have way more features… competition is fierce… they practically give the phones away if you sign up…
I’ll have to give way to somebody from the UK for more details… this is about the extent of my knowledge
I’m in Ireland, not the UK. But the 85% figure if anything seems low to me. So many people here have mobiles that it’s actually surprising when you meet someone who doesn’t.
It is really impossible to speak about the rates because there are so many different plans and it depends whether you’re on a contract or pay-as-you-go phone. It is more expensive to call from a mobile than from a landline, though. And text messages (SMS) aren’t free, I think they’re 10p each on my plan, but that’s a fixed rate to anywhere in the world (or anywhere that the phones use compatible technology anyway). wooba is right to say that texting is hugely popular over here, my phone bill ranges from £15-20 per month and I’d say about 85% of it is from text messages, and apparently I’m FAR from alone
I haven’t got a setup to connect my phone with the internet. But, I’ve heard from people who’ve tried it that the technology isn’t presently at the point where it’s worth the cost to do so.
There are a variety of packages for pay as you go phones.
Average prices would be:
2p (3c) pm evenings and weekends, 25p (35c) business hours, 10p (15c) per text message. No charge for receiving calls. Handsets for pay as you go range upwards from £35 ($50) including £10 ($15) of calls.
It’s a cheap alternative to other phones- public phones are under great pressure because they cost relatively more than cell phones.
People also use them as a second line when they are surfing the net.
Good lord, $40 US for virtually unlimited service? I’m paying $70 for about 300 anytime minutes and 1000 night/weekend minutes (with free long distance).
It’s quite possible that I have the worst contract around, but I think those low call rates are for calling land lines from a mobile. My free minutes are again only for calling land lines. The cost of calling another mobile phone can be quite high (20-50p a minute depending on the time of day?). Oddly, it costs me more to call someone on a different network here than it costs me to call a friend in the States on his mobile from mine! Although admittedly, I’ve yet to discover if he was charged for the call also…
The WAP phones I’ve played with are basically crap.
Isn’t it a problem in the US that, AFAIK, it’s not possible to tell you’re calling a mobile phone?
25p weekdays 10p evenings 2p weekends to land lines
Cellnet to Cellnet cellphones 10p Mon-Fri, 2p weekends
Other cellphones 50p
All per minute
No standing charge.
I keep two sim cards- one Vodafone, one cellnet, so I get cheap access to those network’s phones. Also improves coverage- different networks have different blind spots- and that’s important in Cornwall where coverage is very poor.
Rates can be as low as 0.69 FIM/minute=0.10 USD/minute
SMS are 0.35 FIM=0.05 USD
BTW Nokia is Finnish company so that somewhat explains the high number of cell phones.
People in Cambodia for example have a lot of cell phones vs. cable phones because no-one wants to dig the ground open as they have laid mines in there for years. So it’s a lot safer to build cell phone network.
Yep, I agree the great market mechanism here in the UK is the fact that local calls aren’t free from a landline so that provides another reason to get a mobile / cell phone. The big thing for kids is text messaging – really, really huge – as those are cheaper than regular calls.
The really big difference between Europe and the US used to be the universality of the phones, phones here work nationally and internationally (I recall that wasn’t the case in the US where distinct networks existed in different cities). Not sure what the situation now is in the US.
With so many different payment plans it’s difficult to offer a simple comparison - really depends on your needs.
Yes, but it’s only a problem for the owner of the mobile.
Calling a mobile is exactly the same as calling any other number… so it’s in your your local area code, it still free to call from a landline. Calling from another cell phone to a cell phone incurs no extra charges to calling a land line.
The owner of a cell phone pays for the call, regardless if they receive or make it.
But usually, you’ll have X number of minutes that you can use each month… this can be used for your local zone. Calls outside of that area are charged at a different rate and don’t count against your monthly minutes. For example, I live in Canada near Toronto and my local zone turns out to be HUGE… a lot bigger than I thought it would be and covers hundreds of square kilometres… considerably more than a comparible land line. It’s extremely rare I need to call out of that zone.
So for about $35 after taxes Canadian (maybe $23-24 US) I get 200 minutes a month… more than ample… I get free voice mail (free to retreive!), free call waiting & free caller ID.
The company used to have a plan… for about $50 after taxes (about $32 - $33 US) you get 200 minutes for during business hours, then free evenings and weekends… which is pretty amazing… makes owning a home phone obscelete…
My company was recently bought out… the plans are slightly differnt now… but they left old customers on old plans…
i’m an uk teen and the deal i have specifies:
1500 off peak (7pm - 7am) calls per month (50 min a day) for £15
10p each for text messages
free incoming calls
calls outside the above charged at something like 2p/min
and my phone (the sony j5 - it’s pretty good - £100 to buy) came free with the contract, which also included a hands-free kit and a free sony hi-fi!
85%? Hah, that’s nothing. A recent article in either Forbes or Newsweek claimed that over 90% of teens in Japan have not only cell phones, but a whole gaggle of other wireless and web-enabled gadgets. The photos of these teenage girls showed these various devices (sometimes a dozen) just hanging off of their belts, purses and backpacks.
I was quoting off the top of my head. Here is what is currently available in Northern Ohio-the vendor happens to be Alltell, but they are all pretty much competitive.
For $39.95/month, you get 500 anytime minutes and 2000 weekend and night minutes. Free phone, free long distance to entire US. This is why I said it was virtually unlimited. How much can an adult actually use??
