The Integration of Mobile Phones
Into Everyday Life
Supplementary Material
for Chapter 10 in When Media Are New
Copyright 2010, John Carey and Martin C.J. Elton
Last updated 5/1/2011
Early Mobile Communication
First Mobile Radio Telephone - 1924
Source: Bell Labs
Early Cell Phones
Weighed 2 pounds, cost $3995
Late 1980s
Spectrum Allocation
Bluetooth, cordless phones
Satellite TV
Broadcast TV
Cell Phones
Satellite Radio
300 GHz
Source: FCC; Wall Street Journal
FM Radio
30 MHz
Public and Private
Bandwidth
Maritime &Aeronautical
Navigation
AM Radio
3 kilohertz
Worldwide Growth of Telephone Service,
1990 - 2010
In Millions
5282
5500
Mobile Phone Subscribers
4500
3500
2500
1197
1500
Wired Telephone Lines
520
500
-500
11
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010*
*estimated
Source: ITU
Mobile Phones Per 100 People
Luxembourg
130
Singapore
126
Germany
117
Iceland
115
Ireland
114
New Zealand
102
Taiwan
106
U.S.
84
Canada
57
0
Source: ITU, for year 2008
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Early Cell Phone Subscriber Growth in the US
Millions of Subscribers
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
'90
Source: CTIA
'92
'94
'96
'98
2000
Cell Phone Adoption and Gender
Percent of All US Cell Phone Subs
1989
1993
1995
1997
2000
2009
Female
Male
10
39
49
52
52
52
90
61
51
48
48
48
• Some attribute early use by males to occupations that used it
• Females who adopted cell phones in the 90s were more likely
to say they got it for “security”
Source: Castells
Business Vs Personal Cellular Phone Use
(Percentage of Bills Paid By Businesses vs Individuals)
80
70
Business Use
60
50
40
Personal Use
30
20
10
0
1990
Source: EMCI; Washington Post
1991
1992
1994
Cellular Subscriber Growth
(U.S. Market, in Millions)
No. of
Subscribers
Cellular
Penetration
% of Hshlds
Net No. of New
Subscribers
2000
97.0
34.3
20.7
2001
11.4
41.5
21.4
2002
134.6
46.7
16.2
2003
148.1
51.0
13.5
2004
169.5
57.8
21.4
2005
194.5
65.8
25.0
2006
218.0
73.0
23.5
2007
238.0
79.0
20.0
2008
255.0
83.9
17.0
2009
270.0
88.1
15.0
Source: Twice; Telecommunications Industry Association
US Cell Phone Sales
Year
Source: Twice; Motorola
Handset Units
(millions)
Average Price
$
1990
NA
875
2000
52.6
171
2001
53.4
162
2002
58.7
138
2003
70.5
130
2004
84.6
125
2005
104.5
130
2006
121.0
138
2007
134.0
143
2008
145.0
147
2009
158.0
151
2010
169.0
152
Cell Phone Replacement Rate
Source: CTAM; Appliance
1998
3.3 Years
2000
2.5
2009
1.2
Average Cost of a Cell Phone
in U.S., 1984 - 2010
$3,395
$875
$350
$210 $168 $130 $138 $143 $147 $151 $152
1984 1990 1994 1998 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Source: USAToday; Motorola
Note: intervals on the time access are irregular
Average Monthly Cellular Phone Bill
in U.S.,1987 - 2010
$120
$100
$80
$60
$40
Source: Cellular Telecom Association
20
01
20
03
20
05
20
07
20
09
99
97
95
93
91
89
87
$20
Average Cost of
Cellular Phone Minutes in U.S.
$0.60
$0.50
$0.40
$0.30
$0.20
$0.10
$0.00
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2009
In 2009, the aver cost per minute in Europe was $.16
Source: USA Today, J.D. Power and Associates
Note: intervals on the time access are irregular
Telephone Status of US Households
70
60
Landline and Wireless
50
40
Landline Only
30
20
Wireless Only
10
No Service
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
Source: US CDC: data for July to Dec, 2006-2009; Jan to June 2010
2010
Percent of US Households
with a Landline
Source: Twice; Harris Interactive
2006
85
2007
84
2008
84
2009
74
Cell Phone Etiquette
Would you be annoyed if your date or spouse answered a
Cell phone during dinner for two at a nice restaurant?
66%
Yes
27%
No
Not Sure
7%
Source: USA Today, Directions Research for Greenfield Online
Txtspeak
404
I don’t know
B4N
Bye for now
GAL
Get a life
JJA
Just joking around
POS
Parent over shoulder
ZZZ
Sleeping
SUP
What’s up?
SMS Worldwide, 2010
Number of SMS sent per second
192 thousand
Number of SMS sent during 2010
6.1 trillion
Source: ITU
Camera Phones
Cell Phones (in U.S.) with Built-in Camera
86%
71%
46%
2005
Source: Twice
2007
2009
Ring Tone Sales
(in Millions)
$600
$550
$500
$510
$240
$70
'03
'04
Source: BMI (figures not available after 2008)
'05
'06
'07
'08
Smartphones
US Wireless Smartphone Sales
Unit Sales in Millions – Actual and Projected
Smartphone
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Source: Twice
2.3
4.5
9.8
14.0
20.7
27.3
36.0
45.0
52.0
% Change
95.7
117.8
42.9
47.9
31.9
31.9
25.0
15.6
Apps