The mobiles in question are revamped, and, condition permitting, given to domestic violence victims who can use them to call for help in emergency situations. The campaign has been a resounding success with over 10,000 telephones distributed in this way contributing to the prevention of violence and improved safety. Whatever your view, buying a mobile phone is never a run of the mill decision and aesthetic considerations often come into play. Mobile users are competing with each other in creative terms to customise their mobile phones with features from fun fur holders to removable covers.
Boutiques cater for a range of telephone customisation ideas.
Short text messages are now common place. In barely 2 years, the number of messages sent has risen from one billion per month in April 1999 to over 19 billion in May 2001. SMS usage has proved to be much more than just a passing fad and is now well established in a large number of European and Asian countries. However, Germany comes top of the league table with 6 billion SMSs exchanged every month and China, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia have enjoyed consistent growth. The American continent does not yet appear to have warmed to the new means of communication possibly due to the fact that there has not been a major communications campaign there and due to a certain technological lag, preferring mobile Internet instead.