An ICM survey for the HSBC bank reveals that UK users have 1.6 mobile phones each. There are, apparently, 70 million mobile SIM cards (phone numbers) and more than 71 million handsets among 45 million adults.
Men have more mobiles than women, and marrieds have more phones than singles.
Alison Leonard, from First Direct, says:
the days when we kept just one handset are fast fading, as many of us have different phones for different purposes. With one phone for work, one for friends and potentially a personal organiser or BlackBerry as well, mobilemania has swept the nation.
The bank seems surprised that "an extraordinary one in ten (9%) have more than four mobile numbers and handsets". I think it's cute that people actually know how many handsets they've got... or perhaps they're just forgetting about the old ones lost in the bottom of drawers.
Hmm, 70 million lines at a guesstimated £20 a month comes to £16,800,000,000 a year.....
