Michael Leverock, Chief Operating Officer at Cellular One, estimates cell phones have already reached 50 percent of Bermuda's population.

And there is still room for further growth, he confidently predicts. Cell phone popularity has surpassed even the personal computer and the mobility of the cell phone makes it an extremely popular gadget. Not to mention the various features that continue to make it more and more attractive.

"We've even seen people who started off with us in 1999 coming back in and upgrading their phones," said Mr. Leverock.

"Bermudians just like gadgets and they like having the best. Technology is constantly changing and the equipment vendors are constantly upgrading their handsets.

"As soon as an equipment vendor comes on line with a new cell phone people buy them. People just want to have the newest, fanciest and snazziest!"

Cell phones have been in Bermuda since the late 1980s, a year or two after the Bermuda Telephone Company switched from five digit phone numbers in the last quarter of 1987. Throughout the 1990s cell phones have become smaller and smaller...all for added convenience.

"As far as the number of cell phones is concerned, that has grown significantly since competition was introduced some three-and-a-half years ago when we first started out," said Mr. Leverock.

"We have only been up and running since July 1999. Penetration back then, if my memory serves me correctly, was somewhere around 35 percent of the population. Now it is just a little over 50 percent."

Cell phones are becoming more and more competitively priced, too, as retail outlets offer various packages to attract customers in the competitive market.

"I would say the majority of our customers are younger, though the age group is quite broad," said the COO. "The majority of them are between the mid-20s to early-40s, but we're now seeing a trend where the younger crowds are getting in because of the introduction of our pre-paid service where you don't need to have a contract.

"Our pre-paid service has allowed a younger crowd to get service, which is in line with what's been happening in the rest of the world. Now 13 to 18 year olds have become pretty prevalent users of cell phones."

Added Mr. Leverock: "Also you're finding that pricing for service is becoming more comparable to getting a land line phone. We can put a phone in people's hands now for $77. We sell competitive rate plans which aren't too far off the mark for getting a land line phone, so one day you are going to find there are probably more people with cell phones than land line phones."

So what can consumers expect from cell phones in the future?

"Cell phones will have a lot more features in them, particularly from an organisational point of view," said Mr. Leverock.

By this year he says there will be new features in phones such as superior bandwidth, choice of handsets, voice clarity, downloadable ring tones, full colour screens, picture messaging and mobile internet connection.

"They have become more like a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), with the ability to communicate. It fulfils the desire to have snazziness and also, given the data capabilities, you won't have to wait to go home to sit down behind your computer to access your e-mail," he said.

"And when you have further proliferation of websites that are in a certain format that you can browse on a smaller screen, they will even be able to access the internet to get relevant information."

Mr. Leverock estimates Cellular One sold over 1,000 cell phones during the Christmas shopping period. "Christmas has always been a very good time (for sales), we usually offer some good specials," he stated.

"The market is reaching a level of maturity, I don't say it has fully saturated yet. We can still squeeze another ten percent out of the market. "We're still somewhat behind other parts of the world, like the Scandinavian countries and other parts of Europe where you see penetration rates of 60 percent and upwards. We've actually caught up the United States when it comes to market penetration.

"Give it a couple of years and I think we'll get up to 60, 65 percent."