BT Cellnet Connection Figures
British Telecommunications PLC
5 July 2000
BT CELLNET CUSTOMER BASE GROWS TO 8.1m
NEW MOBILE INTERNET MARKET MAKES RECORD DEBUT
BT Cellnet, the mobile Internet market leader, today
announced a total of 670,000 new mobile phone customers
for April-June 2000. This represents a 34 per cent
increase on the same period last year.
175,000 of these new connections were mobile Internet
sales. In addition to this, the company has reached supply
agreements with a range of financial services partners* to
supply up to 330,000 mobile Internet phones this financial
year. From next month, the phones will enable these
partners to extend their mobile banking services to their
customers.
According to BT Cellnet around 200,000 people have
bought mobile Internet (WAP) phones in the UK to date.
This is the fastest ever uptake of a new mobile
phone technology in the UK, including GSM. BT Cellnet
estimates it has secured 90 per cent of this new market
for mobile Internet users since launch.
Peter Erskine, managing director of BT Cellnet, said:
'These early adopters are proving to be heavier users
compared to traditional voice-only customers. It is
important in such an environment to be first to market to
capture these high quality consumers, and puts us in a
strong position as the next phase of the mobile market
develops.'
During the same period, the Genie Internet service signed
up a total of 380,000 new users, taking its base to
one million. BT Cellnet estimates that of the UK mobile
phone networks, the Genie Internet user base is around
ten times larger than its nearest rival. 70 per cent
of all Genie users are BT Cellnet customers and also
use their mobile phones noticeably more than voice-only
customers.
Peter Erskine added:
'This quarter has been a strong commercial success for BT
Cellnet, in voice and mobile Internet. A new kind of
mobile phone user is emerging. I believe their grasp of
the benefits of new mobile data technologies is an
important factor in our success.'
* Current BT Cellnet banking partners include Egg
(Prudential), First Direct, IF (Halifax), Barclaycard,
HSBC (UK), Bank of Scotland and Cahoot (Abbey National).
BT Cellnet Quarterly Connection Figures - Quarterly totals
BT Cellnet Quarterly Net Connections Total Closing
Growth Base
Apr-June 2000 670,000 8,074,000
Jan-Mar 2000 457,000 7,404,000
Oct-Dec 1999 1,001,000 6,947,000
July-Sept 1999 923,000 5,946,000
Apr-June 1999 501,000 5,023,000
For further information please contact:
BT Cellnet Press Office 01753 565656
Simon Matthews/Fiona Campbell
Fishburn Hedges 020 7839 4321