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- who are they?

Last updated 3/11/99

- Introduction

- Summary

- Results

• The following information is taken from an omnibus survey conducted by market research agency RSL over the four week period 17^th September to 5^th October 1999. It is based on a representative sample of 8273 UK adults, of whom about 6% did not have a fixed line phone at home.

• It was conducted in relation to the review of Universal Service policy, to assist in the provision of basic demographic data, and some habit and lifestyle information, comparing households with and without a fixed line phone.  Further research is planned for later this year, investigating reasons for not having a fixed line phone, and reasons for using a mobile instead.

Summary

• The key feature of consumers without a fixed line phone is that they tend to be on very low incomes. They appear to fall primarily into three groups:

1. young, unemployed, low income council residents, some possibly single parent families – this is characterised by the predominance of 1-2 person households, as likely as average to have children under the age of 5;
2. about 1 in 5 of those without a fixed line phone are students – this is indicated by the C1 social grade, living in private rented accommodation, and the larger household sizes;
3. older, unemployed/low income or retired consumers on state rather than private pensions, again primarily living in rented accommodation, although a small minority may own their home.

• All three groups are characterised by very low annual incomes, and are predominantly unemployed or non-skilled workers, living in small households in council or other rented accommodation.

• As result, they have little disposable income and are therefore less likely to own a car, household items such as videos, satellite or cable TV or have debit or credit cards. They are less likely to read a daily paper, and those who do tend to read the tabloid press.

• They are however, as likely as consumers with a fixed line phone, to own a mobile phone. About half of those without a fixed line phone claimed to own a mobile phone. For whatever reason, these consumers use a mobile rather than fixed phone to keep in touch, particularly the student population.

• This research on the whole supported results recently commissioned by Oftel from the 1997/98 Family Expenditure Survey carried out the Office of National Statistics. The only difference was mobile phone ownership, which the FES reported as being considerably below average amongst households without a fixed phone. This inconsistency is most likely a result of the different time periods in which the two surveys were conducted. The recent growth in the mobile market, particularly in pre-pay phones, may account for these differences. More up to date information is currently being purchased from the FES to enable further comparisons to be made.

• The survey did not question reasons for using a mobile rather than fixed line phone. It is intended to conduct further research on households without a phone in coming months, in particular, their reasons for not having a phone, or using a mobile instead, including cost issues and flexibility.

Results

The charts below show compare UK consumers with and without a fixed line phone at home.

Consumers without a fixed line phone at home are predominantly young, over half are under the age of 34. Although a lower proportion than those with a phone, about 1 in 5 of the ‘unphoned’ are over the age of 55 and therefore are likely to be retired.

They are slightly more likely to be in smaller households either on their own or with one other person, generally not large families.

They are considerably more likely than those with a fixed line phone, to be of very low social grading, D and E. This includes retired people on state rather than private pensions, non-skilled workers and the unemployed.

They are slightly more likely to be ‘not working’, either unemployed, students or retired. Almost 2 in 5 were working full time however, but are likely to be on very low incomes.

Just under half of respondents declined to give their annual income. Of those who did state their income, consumers without a fixed line phone at home were considerably more likely to be on very low incomes. 9 in 10 had an annual household income of less that £17,500, and over 6 in 10 had less than £9,500.

Those without a fixed line phone at home were slightly more likely to have left education at a younger age than those with a fixed line phone.

Consumers without a fixed line phone are considerably more likely to live in rented accommodation, predominantly council owned. Only a quarter own their property. They tend to generally live in the lower Acorn housing classification areas, predominantly D, E and F, which include the most downmarket and deprived areas of housing, mainly council estates.

Consumers without a fixed line phone at home, tend to be more widespread in the midlands and the north and are less likely to be living in London or the south.

Consumers without a fixed line phone at home are considerably less likely than those with a phone to own many of the durables taken for granted in the majority of UK households. Fewer than 4 in 10 owned a car, compared with over 7 in 10 of those with a phone. They were also considerably less likely to own any debit or credit cards.

They were however as likely as those with a fixed line phone, to own a mobile phone. Almost half of both groups claimed to own a mobile. It would seem therefore that half of households without a fixed line phone are using mobiles as a replacement for keeping in touch.

Consumers without a fixed line phone tend to be slightly heavier TV viewers than those with.

They are slightly less likely to read any daily paper than households with a fixed line phone. Of those who do read a daily paper, it is more likely to be a tabloid.

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