A Phone in Every Backpack

What's "in" with young Americans between the ages of 12 and 19? First place goes to cellular phones; second place to backpacks, according to the annual Teenage Marketing & Lifestyle Survey from Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU).

So when Dan Hesse, AT&T Wireless Services president & CEO, says he wants "a wireless phone in every backpack," how can he miss? Especially when only 15.7% of these young people actually own wireless phones, according to the survey.

AT&T researchers studied the wireless market in Finland, and determined the youth segment was driving it, according to Ken Woo, AT&T Wireless communications director. AT&T Wireless' new Family Plan is aimed directly at that youth segment in the United States. It is designed to keep families connected wirelessly by allowing unlimited calls between family members and to the home's wired phone within the family calling area.

Here's how it works: One adult family member, Mom, for example, subscribes to a calling plan consisting of either 400 minutes of non-family calling at $49.99 a month or 600 minutes of non-family calling at $69.99 per month. Then Mom can add as many as four additional callers, perhaps three children and Dad. Each will use an AT&T multinetwork phone to make calls home and to one another for no additional cost. If Dad wants to use his phone for calls to individuals other than the family members, he can get the $29.95-per-month plan, which includes 200 minutes of non-family calling, or he can subscribe to one of the higher-priced plans.

Dan Drath, TRU research director, said that the primary consideration now for a parent purchasing a phone for his child is safety and security. However, barriers include price, the durability of the handsets and the refusal of many schools to permit wireless phones.

"Parents feel OK about where the kids are during the day; it's after school when play practice is running late or has been cancelled that they want to hear from their child," Drath said. Schools will have to find a way to allow teenagers to have access to their phones after school, he said.

And although teens may tell their parents that they want the phones to call home, they really want to call their friends.

"Teens admit to us pretty readily that once they have that phone, they're not going to be calling their parents that much because they don't want to be on that leash," Drath said.

The TRU survey reveals youngsters spend on average about eight hours a week talking on the phone. That translates to more than 1,900 minutes per month -- a pricey proposition if a wireless phone were being used.