In just two years, companies selling cellular telephone service have added 40 million customers, nearly doubling the number of people who have this service.
Exciting things are in store.
In the past two years, the number of people nationally using the wireless communications devices has nearly doubled, climbing from 50 million in 1998 to a present level of 90 million, said Frank Marino, general manager of U.S. Cellular in Bedford. During the past five years, Marino said, the sale of cell phones to new subscribers has increased in this country by more than 30 percent annually. Marino said U.S. Cellular, one of six major wireless phone carriers doing business in this area, is reflective of the sales explosion. The Bedford office serves customers in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. Early in the evolution of the wireless phone, use was limited mainly to doctors, lawyers, and other professionals, Marino said.