Cellnet Mobile Communications Ltd turned in a much less impressive subscriber performance in 1996 than Vodafone Group Plc (CI No 3,070) and had a total of 2.68m UK subscribers at the end of 1996, up from 2.3m a year earlier; it added 143,000 net new subscribers in the final quarter of 1996, against 215,000 in the last three months of 1995, but quarterly growth was well ahead of the previous July to September 1996 quarter when Cellnet reported 84,100 net connections; Cellnet said the final quarter of 1996 had been its best ever for connections to its digital service, with 229,000 new customers, up from 159,000 for the previous quarter, bringing Cellnet’s total number of digital subscribers up to 883,000.
