HC Deb 25 January 1988 vol 126 c28W
Mr. Amess

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has of how many(a) car and (b) portable telephones were purchased in Britain for each of the last three years.

Mr. Butcher

There are no official statistics but the information I have is as follows:

Number of units
1985 1986 1987
Mobile telephones 31,500 56,000 71,500
Portable telephones 10,500 24,000 38,500

Note: Includes trans-portable and hand portable.

Source: BIS MacKintosh Ltd.

Mr. Amess

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what information he has as to how many(a) portable telephones and (b) car phones are currently registered in Britain;

(2) what information he has as to how many (a) handheld car-portable telephones and (b) voice-activated car-portable telephones are currently in use in Britain.

Mr. Butcher

My Department does not keep a register of portable telephones and car phones and does not keep statistics on the number of car-portable telephones in use in Britain. We understand that the mobile radio network operators keep their own register of numbers of subscriber units but these figures are commercially confidential. However, the companies estimate that there are approximately 50,000 portable telephones and 210,000 car phones in use. Separate estimates on hand-held car-portable telephones and voice-activated car-portable telephones are not available.