The bar chart gives details of phone usage in the UK from 1995 to 2002 on three different types of phone line.
Overall, total phone use increased and the majority of calls were made using a fixed line. However, towards the end of the period, local fixed line calls declined as mobile phone use increased significantly.
During the first four years, all categories increased steadily, although usage was dominated by local fixed line calls. The data for these calls was consistently almost double that of national and international calls, with the former rising from over 70 billion to a peak of 90 billion minutes, while the latter rose from approximately 37 billion to 48 billion. These figures contrast starkly with the data for mobile phone calls in the same period, which began at approximately two billion minutes and saw only gradual increases, climbing to ten billion minutes in 1998.
The picture was very different from 1999 to 2002, when, despite retaining the top position, local fixed line calls dropped back to their initial level and ended the period only 10 billion higher than fixed line national and international calls, which increased consistently throughout. Notably, the drop in local calls corresponded with dramatic increases in mobile phone use, which, by 2002, had reached almost 45 billion minutes, considerably reducing the gap between all three categories.