In less than 20 years the UK has undergone a complete communications revolution following the introduction of the mobile phone. During that time the number of mobile phones in circulation has grown from virtually nil to the situation where there are now more mobile phones in the UK than people. At the end of 2007 almost 70million mobile phones subscriptions were active in the UK, and almost every adult uses one.
However, it wasn’t always so, as the first mobile phones were analogue-based, extremely bulky, had very short battery life and were extremely expensive. In addition, there were only two mobile phone operators from which to choose and communication to and from the hand-held devices was often very unreliable. Understandably, sales of mobile phone devices were initially very flat as they failed to ignite the public’s interest.
But, following the introduction of second generation phones (2G) in the late 1990s, demand increased exponentially and by the start of 2000 there were almost 40 million UK mobile subscribers. Unlike first generation phones 2G handsets were digital, very much lighter and came with many more functions and were appealing to consumers. New technology saw the introduction of more efficient batteries, which in turn led to smaller handsets. The equipment advances combined with an increase in the number of major mobile operators led to more competition and pushing down prices, and increasing consumer demand.
The introduction of 3G, or third generation phones in the early 21st century allowed even more functionality, and led to another stepped increase in the number of subscribers. According to research carried out on behalf of the Mobile Operators Association (MOA) in early 2007, 84 per cent of UK adults owned a mobile phone.
The next technological advance in mobile phone handsets is likely to be the shift towards using WiFi phones. These are small, portable phones that let you make voice calls using the internet, but without the need to use a computer, providing you subscribe to a wireless network operator.
Mobile handset operators want to take that technology even further and allow consumers to switch seamlessly between internet networks and traditional mobile phone networks, dependent upon which offers the best service or deal, while using only one handset.
Indeed, WiMax is currently being trialled in Tokyo, Japan. This is a powerful public version of WiFi and allows users of mobile handsets to make a voice call through the internet, or their mobile phone operator’s network. If successful this technology will undoubtedly be rolled out around the world and in a few short years we could all be owners of such WiFi handsets. |
