The base of US cellular phone subscribers grew by 18.4% in the first half of this year and by 47% in the past year, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association reports, noting that about 2m more people signed up for cellular service in the January to June period. Thomas Wheeler, president of the association, reckons that that amounts to 11,000 people daily signing up. Revenues for the industry grew 15% in the six months and 34.7% for the year ended June, to reach $9,000m. There has been a change in the type of phones bought, with car phones a diminishing percentage. Pocket phones accounted for 31% sold while car phones dropped to 30% from 39% a year ago. The Association reckons there are now 1,523 cellular systems employing 36,501 people, with McCaw Cellular Communications Inc the largest player; GTE Corp, BellSouth Corp, Pacific Telesis, Bell Atlantic Corp are all majors.
