Christmas shoppers boost mobile sales

A Wap phone: popular as a Christmas gift

Almost two-in-three of the UK population is set to own a mobile phone by Boxing Day, a survey of Christmas shoppers has revealed.

The popularity of mobile phones as Christmas presents will take the number of Britons owning handsets to about 40 million, a survey by NOP Research Group said.

One-in-10 shoppers questioned said they would give a handset to a friend or relative for Christmas.

And further growth in the UK's mobile-owning population is set to occur early next year, when customers snap up bargains in the January sales, NOP said on Monday.

'Love affair'

"The British love affair with the mobile phone continues apace," NOP spokesman Colin Strong said.

The growth should take the level of handset ownership to levels near those found in Scandinavian countries, which have proved particularly mobile-friendly.

A spokeswoman for the Federation of Communication Services said: "More than 50% of us now own mobiles and while we have not yet caught up with the Scandinavians, we are now very close behind."

'Pester power'

About one-in-six mobile phones given in the UK this year will be of the new-style Wap variety, which allows users to surf the internet from their handsets.

But the youth market is proving one of the fastest growing, with one third of Christmas shoppers purchasing mobile phone admitting they were buying them as presents for children aged under 14.

Mr Strong said: "The young in particular see the mobile phone as the 'must have' and we can expect to see further growth in this area to the immense pester power from kids."