The mobile phone industry has been through many changes since the very first mobile phones were developed. Long gone are the days of the “brick” phone, in-fact many of the new modern smart phones offer more computing power than the computers of the 70’s, 80’s and even early 90’s. The mobile phone has truly become a multi-function communications tool.
The UK Mobile Industry
Mobile phones have been available in the UK since the 1980’s. In the modern world the advancing mobile phone technology and design of the product has fuelled the consumer demand and mobiles have become a must have accessory. Recorded in 2011 figures show that there are 82.7 million subscribers to mobiles which means there is now more mobile phones than people in the UK. A staggering 94% of adults say they either own or use a mobile phone with 61% of these having a contract there is a huge market up for grabs. Although the market is very fast paced that shouldn’t put you off as it is robust and looking into the future the market is going to continue to grow. In relation to the 94% of mobile users this is an even spread across England, Scotland and Wales with Northern Ireland having roughly 2% more users.
The Decline Of the Land Line
On average people send 200 text messages per month and with almost half of adults using their mobiles to access the internet to gain access to email and social networking websites its not surprising that land-line usage has fallen. Calls from landlines fell by just over 7% but trends show that this is likely to keep falling year on year. Figures show that 15% of current households operate on a mobile only basis.
The Market Place
With the two main mobile giants accounting for at least 75% of the retail revenue up for grabs its not surprising that consumers want to shop around and get the best deal. Although these figures show these retailers must be doing something right they haven’t had it all of their own way with specialists in the wider market doing well they have some serious competition. Although prices of mobile phones keep raising and the market is saturated the 4G network has been rolled out. 4G is the fourth generation of mobile communication. The system provides ultra broadband internet access. This is an updated system to the previous third generation. The system has been a popular development and hasn’t stopped consumers purchasing longer term contracts to be a part of the new generation.
Business Mobile Phones
Business mobile phone contracts are negotiated and can be very reliable if things go wrong for example technical issues out with your control. In fact most mobile phone networks have a specialised department for business customers so that any customer services issues can be dealt with quickly by a dedicated agent. The technical help is also available 24 hours a day and is usually of a higher level so that you wont lose customers for a long period of time. This is usually dealt with by a replacement phone if the handset becomes faulty.