17.5% of US homes are mobile only

The latest National Health Interview Survey from the USA shows that the number of homes with only mobile phones continues to grow. More than one out of every six homes in America (17.5%) only had mobiles when surveyed in the first six months of 2008, up 1.7% from the previous six months. [Source: cdc.gov]

Vodafone chasing German cable TV company?

Vodafone is apparently thinking about acquiring Germany’s largest cable company Kabel Deutschland. Vodafone already offers fixed-line and broadband services via Arcor; buying Kabel Deutschland would enable it to offer fixed-line, broadband, mobile and TV services in Germany. [Sources: RapidTVNews.com; BroadbandTVNews.com]

Spending on mobiles will affect other business comms

Analysys Mason says business spending on voice services is moving to mobile - much like the consumer telecomms market. In Western Europe, enterprise mobile voice spend is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1% while enterprise fixed voice spend is expected to decline at a CAGR of 15%. It also says the current global financial situation may accelerate mobile substitution and fixed/mobile convergence because businesses are unwilling to pay the relatively high cost of desk phones. [Analysis Mason news insight]

Ofcom report shows UK top for mobile broadband coverage

Ofcom has published its third annual International Communications Market Report, which looks at take-up, availability and use of broadband, landlines, mobiles, TV and radio in a number of countries. Some of the key mobile-related points include:

• HSDPA mobile broadband availability covers 87% of the UK population; the highest of all 16 countries surveyed.
• In all of the countries covered by the report, total mobile revenues last year were higher than fixed-line voice and broadband combined.
• Mobile call volumes grew by 21% in the UK during 2007. However, increases in call volumes have not been matched by corresponding increases in retail revenue.
• Text messaging volumes increased by 36% in the UK, 90% in Poland and over 100% in the US and Canada.

[Ofcom report]

Carphone planning to sell TalkTalk?

There are reports that The Carphone Warehouse is soon going to announce plans to split its fixed-line phone and broadband business from the rest of the company. It's expected that the split will take place towards the end of next year. [Sources: TimesOnline.co.uk; Telegraph.co.uk]

Europeans are ditching fixed-line phones for mobiles

A European Commission study says about a quarter of homes in the EU have a mobile phone but no fixed-line connection. There's a higher proportion in Eastern Europe: 39% of households are mobile-only, compared to a fifth of homes in Western Europe - although in Finland, 61% of households only have mobiles. The report also says last year there were nearly 112 handsets for every 100 European residents. A report a couple of weeks ago put the US number of mobile-only households at 17%. [Source: Cellular-News.com]

Mobile-only householders think differently

The Pew Research Center, which conducts public opinion polls, says leaving out households that don't have a fixed-line phone may cause an inaccurate result in polls. Their new study shows that organisations only conducting telephone interviews using fixed-line connections may end up with skewed results. Two years ago, researchers said mobile and fixed-line users had similar views... but the new report says "this assumption is increasingly questionable". It says having contacted Americans under 30 who only used mobiles, 62% were Democrats and 28% were Republicans. However fixed-phone users showed less separation: 54% Democrats and 36% Republicans. One of the reasons for the difference could be that fixed-line owners were more likely to be married and own their own homes, said Pew Research Center's director of survey research. [Source: Cellular-News.com]

20 million households in USA only have mobiles

New research from The Nielsen Company reveals that more than 20 million households in the USA rely on a mobile phone instead of fixed-line service. That's 17% of all homes with fixed-line or mobile phones - and the company says it could reach 20% by the end of the year. Nielsen’s study also says that 'wireless substitutors' tend to use their mobile phones more than people with landlines but still save money when compared with fixed-line use, which costs an average $40 per month. 10% of lfixed-line phone customers have previously gone wireless-only in their household but have later returned to landline service, usually because they need a landline for another service (such as burglar alarms, satellite or cable TV, fax machines etc.) [Press release]

UK's mobile networks owe BT millions

The Competition Appeal Tribunal says BT is owed millions of pounds by Britain's mobile phone networks. It says BT was overcharged by the mobile networks when its customers called mobile phones from a fixed-line phone. The ruling dates back to 2006 but could also affect the tribunal's current investigation into mobile termination charges. [Source: Guardian.co.uk]

Europeans are ditching their landlines

A survey from the European Commission has shown that 24% of EU households have given up their fixed telephone in favour of mobile phones, while 22% are using their computer from home to make 'VoIP' phone calls over the internet. [Press release]

Ofcom survey shows fixed-line usage dropping

Ofcom's annual review of the UK's TV, radio, and telecommunications usage has been published. Although an increase in rural broadband usage has grabbed much of the attention, the survey also shows that an increasing number of people are living without fixed-line telephones at home. In general, 87% of UK homes have a fixed-line phone - down 3% from last year. An average 12% of households rely on mobile phones, with Belfast and Liverpool (23% and 21% respectively) having a particularly high number of mobile-only households. [PDF summary]

Ofcom figures show mobile usage increasing over fixed-line

Ofcom's update for the fourth quarter of 2007 shows that fixed-line voice call volumes were 10% lower year-on-year, while mobile call volumes grew by 18% in the same period (and by 6% from the previous quarter). In addition, Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile customers sent 15.7 billion SMS and MMS messages in Q4 2007, a 14% increase on the previous quarter. [Ofcom summary; PDF report]

50% European mobile broadband penetration within five years

50% of Europeans will be using mobile broadband services by 2012. That's the surprising headline from a report by management consultants Arthur D. Little and investment company Exane BNP Paribas. They also forecast that 20% of this mobile broadband traffic could be carried through fixed networks as the result of partnerships between mobile and fixed-line companies to handle network capacity. [Arthur D Little press release]

Americans love their mobile phones

Pew Research, which provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world, has just released a new study that says the majority of all Americans are part of a wireless, mobile population. In a December 2007 survey they found that 58% of adult Americans had used a mobile phone or PDA for non-voice data activity - and 41% of adult Americans had logged onto the internet with a wireless laptop connection or a handheld device. Overall, this gave a total of 62% using digital mobile services. When asked how hard it would be to give up a specific type of technology, the majority said it would be their mobile phone, followed by the internet, TV, and fixed-line telephone. In 2o06, the number one technology was fixed-line phone, followed by TV and then mobile.

Mobile calls to overtake fixed-line calls this year

The volume of voice calls on mobile phone networks will soon exceed that on traditional fixed networks in Western Europe, says according to a new report from Analysys Research. It says mobile calls will overtake fixed-line calls in the UK and generally in Western Europe by the end of this summer. Mobile voice usage has already surpassed fixed voice in France, although Italy isn't expected to experience this until 2009, with Germany following in 2010. [Press release]