In Finland, the number of the households having a conventional
telephone has decreased during the past ten years from
94 percent to 78 percent. Simultaneously the amount of
households having a mobile phone has shown a very rapid
growth from less than 5 percent to 73 percent. By 1998, more
Finnish households had a mobile phone than a conventional
telephone. Approximately 88 percent of households in Finland
have at least one mobile phone, and more than 20 percent of
these households have more than one mobile phone, which is
up from 65 percent in 1999. More than 20 percent of households
in Finland have only a mobile phone (one or more), and
that number may grow in a few years. (Source: Statistics
Finland; www.cellular.co.za/news.)
Finns in particular have a strong affinity to their Nokia
mobile phones. In 2000, over 1.4 million new phones were
purchased (in a country with just over 5 million people). These
phones are used to send messages, especially by teens. In
2000, over 1 billion SMS messages were sent. Furthermore,
wireless phones are also being used in a variety of mobile transactions.
For example, to purchase beverages from GSMenabled
vending machines, the user dials the number indicated
on the machine, which results in the release of the soft drink
from the machine. The cost of the beverage appears on a
monthly bill, together with the charge for the phone call.