Do you have a mobile (cell) phone?

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I was just looking around the CIA World Factbook site and spotted some stats about mobile cell phone usage in different countries. As probably expected, the US tops the list of numbers of units in use (based on 2002 figures).

After a little calculation[*] however, I was able to come up with the % of population which has a mobile phone. This produced some very interesting results, a selection of which I have included below:

1. 88% - Iceland
2. 76% - Ireland
3. 73% - Austria
4. 72% - UK
5. 72% - Finland
6. 70% - Taiwan
7. 67% - Germany
8. 60% - Singapore
9. 58% - South Korea
10. 56% - New Zealand

13. 50% - Japan
17. 44% - Australia
28. 27% - Canada
32. 25% - Netherlands
34. 24% - USA
42. 18% - France

Countries with a higher percentage of the population with mobile phones than the US include Croatia, Guam, Macau & the United Arab Emirates.

Maybe I'm alone in thinking that this is mildly interesting. Let me know your opinions on mobile (cell) phones in general.

[*] As these figures are based on 2 y/o data, there may have be some changes since then.

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I have a cell phone because I need it for my work. I started with the lowest plan of 400 anytime minutes but have increased to 1000 because, even though my phone is off much of the time, many inconsiderate people leave me long-winded messages. How did manking survive for hundreds of thousands of years without these things? I do find it curious that so many other countries have a higher percentage of use than the US.

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i don't wear a collar around my neck for anyone who wants to 'jerk' it either!

[but i just love the technology; in the future, i'm sure that the cell phone will be 'wetware' built into a sub cutaneous chip!]

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More recent studies (2003) show that "mobile telephone penetration in Europe" is going over 100% in some countries (Luxemburg - over 110%).

Slovenia has a rating of 85%, and Croatia over 50%.

Slovenia has gone from under 5% in 1996, 10% in 1999, over 50% in mid-2000, 60% in 2001, 70% in 2002, over 80 in 2003.

Source : http://www.ris.org/main/novice/readnews.php?sid=30&ncat=81&p1=276&p2=285&id=336

We don't even use fixed telephones anymore. I have a fixed line at home which I use strictly for Internet. Some people have 2 or three phones, some have just many numbers and one phone. Number of mobile phones is 2 to 3 times more than number of fixed phones.

Relative

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Didn't get one untill January. It's handy, but annoying.

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I believe that since the US had such a well-established and well-functioning (for the most part) landline system, there was less impetus to use cell phones.

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I have one. It's convenient. But I don't know how to get the ringtone I want. It's available from one of those websites, but not sure if it's compatible with my phone.

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George wrote:

I believe that since the US had such a well-established and well-functioning (for the most part) landline system, there was less impetus to use cell phones.

The landline system in the UK is pretty good as well, and we are so much more compact here than the US, and we still manage to have (relatively) 3-4x as many mobile phones.

They are replacing landlines in the UK as well, as mentioned by Relative. I personally love having one. I can ring people from the pub or up a mountain and it's useful to have in case of an emergency. I mainly use it for SMS texting, as it's cheaper than ringing most of the time.

The really big explosion in sales here happened when the companies introduced 'pay-as-you-go' schemes about 3-4 years ago, which have allowed kids to have their own phones (under 18's can't get a regular monthly contract due to credit laws, but can have a prepaid scheme).

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I've had one since 1990. Strictly for safety/emergency use. I've often had to travel to very out of the way places for work, and it's very much insurance for me.

I've got a very basic plan.

Isn't Finland famous/infamous for its level of mobile use? Seems to me I've seen at least one documentary on that.

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Wouldn't mind having one for travel, but can't justify much cost for the amount of travel I do.

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Mine is my only phone. Same number for work/home. Alot of minutes. I haven't had a landline in probably 3 years.
I don't really understand some people's resistance to them, if you don't want to be bothered, you can shut the ringer, or the phone off.

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I don't often use my mobile phone, mainly because it is broken and I can't be bothered to have it be fixed. I don't SMS, as I find it annoying that one has to either write 6 messages or 'rit in sum dgnrt way lyk ths' to convey what could, and probably should, be done face to face; I believe that, with the advent of SMS, we are losing a lot of oral discourse, which is not good.

I find people who spend 12p to say 'I'm coming home' wasteful. I don't think that people should be willing to text or talk at any time; and I find it really, truly annoying, when someone just starts texting or receiving a call from another in the middle of a conversation-- it p**ses me off, to be frank, and I find it unsocial.

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Kind of like how one of my buddies and me constantly text message each other back and forth during sports games.

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Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:

I don't really understand some people's resistance to them, if you don't want to be bothered, you can shut the ringer, or the phone off.

No kidding. It reminds me of the people who bang their heads on walls and complain that it hurts.

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Grand Duke,

You didn't leave a spot for those of us that have had them, but don't have one now.

I had one for a few years, but found it was a problem keeping up with calls and not having "roaming" in some areas. Too many areas we travel to haven't got towers, so no "roaming". I was briefly upset when it was stolen two years ago, but don't miss it now.

I was always forgetting to shut the frigging thing off. I remember getting a call from my mother, while driving in Vancouver's Friday rush hour. She was here in Wisconsin and wanted to know if we could watch her dog for a day! Shocked

At Ceremonies, we had to give them up until Ceremonies were done. This could be up to a week or more, so we we use calling cards now, more minutes and cheaper.

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Of course I have one. I only turn it on when I leave home, so I advise people NOT to leave messages on my cell.

Next time I buy a phone, I really must consider ring tones before overall design. This one looks cool, but all the tones are silly. Very embarrassing in meetings. Embarrassed

Because of this, I often turn it off when I'm with a client...and I say, "this is important, and I don't want us to be interrupted, so I'm turning this off." Very Happy

Sometimes they turn theirs off, too. It's nice to have an uninterrupted conversation once in a while.

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Relative wrote:

Croatia over 50%.

Relative

Gee, only over 50%? I thought everyone in this country has those little bastards.

I mean, everyone including me Rolling Eyes

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I have one for emergencies - succumbed only a few months ago.

I hate the NORMAL phone, even! Work has ruined the phone for me - I associate it with crises and things that just ruin my day.

I actually don't know my mobile's number - and, if the few people who have the number (from when I knew it) - want to call and leave me long messages, let'em - though my voicemail message says I won't ever hear them. Heehee - I am not sure Iknow how to answer it even!

Where I am working now - a place where people attend one meeting in person, and 4 others by mobile - sometimes says expectantly, as they hustle me off to some dumb meeting I didn't know about, at which I have nothing to contribute: "We tried to call you, but we don't have your mobile number!"

"Don't you?" I say sympathetically, and run away.

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Craven de Kere wrote:

Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:

I don't really understand some people's resistance to them, if you don't want to be bothered, you can shut the ringer, or the phone off.

No kidding. It reminds me of the people who bang their heads on walls and complain that it hurts.

Yes, it's stupid to buy one and then complain about it, because that's a complete waste: but, even if one doesn't have a mobile phone, they can often affect things; like people who break off a conversation with one friend to text another. I find that rather ignorant, unless it's an emergency; but it's usually something stupid. When I last went on an excursion with a friend, they checked their phone about every two minutes; and, as if to compensate their not talking to Me but being interested in another friend, they'd tell me (a toned down version of) the crap that the pervert on the other end was writing! It just rigs me, badly.

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I finally got a cell phone when I moved back up here. I had a very unreliable car and I started taking care of other people's kids. Both of those are good reasons to have one. It comes in handy for other reasons as well, but I still don't use it much.

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Do you have a mobile (cell) phone?

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