Pay monthly mobile

But it should be noted that, in both cases, the actual download speeds could be somewhat less - for example, Vodafone’s latest offering will download at 384 kbps.WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is the global standard for bringing internet content and other services - such as mobile banking and booking airline tickets- to your mobile phone.

The jury is still out. Despite delays and set backs, Europe’s big mobile operators are pressing ahead with their plans to roll-out 3G services.Hutchison Whampoa says demand is picking up, albeit more slowly than at first thought. However, UK operator mmO2 is more sanguine about the prospects for 3G.In its report, 3G Deployment Status: Better Late Than Never, US market research firm In-Stat/MDR says: “Although the press has long been publishing stories about the doom and gloom of 3G, the reality is that 3G is happening, although maybe a bit later and smaller than many had hoped.”2004 could be the year when 3G services finally begin to make their mark in the UK.

ME, MY MOBILE AND I .26% say they couldn’t live without mobile
18% refuse to admit the importance of the mobile in their life.32% see phone as tool rather than intimate object.24% say wouldn’t miss mobile if it was taken away,85% of children had personalised phones.

For children, phones are not so much about communication as a device for downloading things such as pop news, games and ringtones.”These M-Agers are very clued up on phone functions. They want highly functional phones and they give them a high degree of personalisation,” said Prof Hulme.Phones are rapidly replacing trainers as a social marker.

“The phone plays a role in the playground and can be a ticket to entry into certain groups,” he said.In some cases the phones themselves are becoming ‘virtual playgrounds’, as children fill their free time with texting their friends and playing games.In denialYoungsters are also far more aware of the more sophisticated uses of phones, with 71% aware of video-calling compared to 54% of adults.

About two-thirds knew about Java applications like games, while only 44% of adults were aware of this function.

This will all be great news for operators keen to push more and more services on phones.

“They are growing up ready to take on these services,” said Prof Hulme.

The study found that adults were more ambivalent about their phone use, with a growing number of people (18%) in denial about how much they need their mobile phones.

“The denier believes the myth that they are in control of the device but when we spoke to them it began to dawn on them that they were not,” said Prof Hulme.

“This group represents a field day for the network providers as they put themselves on tariffs too small for their needs and then go drastically over their free minutes and text allowance,” he added.