The chart below shows the total number of minutes (in billions) of telephone calls in the UK, divided into three categories, from 1995-2002.

The bar chart compares the amount of time spent by people in the UK on three different types of phone calls between 1995 and 2002.

It is clear that

calls made via local, fixed lines were the most popular type, in terms of

overall

usage, throughout the period shown. The lowest figures on the chart are for mobile calls, but

this

category

also

saw the most dramatic increase in user

minutes

. In 1995, people in the UK used fixed lines for a total of just over 70

billion

minutes

for local calls, and about half of that amount of time for national or international calls.

By contrast

, mobile phones were only used for around 4

billion

minutes

. Over the following four years, the figures for all three types of phone calls increased steadily. By 1999, the amount of time spent on local calls using landlines had reached a peak at 90

billion

minutes

.

Subsequently

, the figure for

this

category fell, but the rise in the other two types of phone calls continued. In 2002, the number of

minutes

of national/international landline calls passed 60

billion

,

while

the figure for mobiles rose to around 45

billion

minutes

.