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HK children top Asian cellphone rivals

Hong Kong's mobile phone obsession has passed onto children, with their ownership of the gadgets coming highest in Asia, a survey showed.

An annual report on Asian telecoms market conducted in 12 countries by research company TNS showed 29 percent of Hong Kong children aged six to 15 have a mobile phone, followed by 25 percent in Australia and Japan.

New Zealand and Singapore came in third place with 24 percent. The regional average is 12 percent.

The youngest mobile phone owner in Hong Kong is just six years old.

The territory also maintains the top spot for having the highest penetration rate with 83 percent of its 6.8 million population owning a mobile phone. This was followed by Australia's 82 percent and Japan's 80 percent. The regional average is 67 percent, the study showed.

TNS Hong Kong associate director Stephen Yap said the city's high penetration rate is partly due to its low calling costs.

"Hong Kong is arguably the most competitive mobile market in the world, with six operators serving a population of 7 million and an overwhelming choice of handsets on the market," he said.

But in terms of text messaging, Hong Kong came bottom compared with the rest of the region.

Just 43 percent of Hong Kong mobile users send text messages. They send an average of only 23 messages a month compared with 124 in China and 219 in Singapore.
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