A
new study has found that 16% of US cellphone users have at least two cellphones, something that probably comes as no
surprise to anyone visiting this site. In most cases, one phone is used for personal calls, while a second is an
employer-provided business phone. Up to 25% of companies that provide cellphones to employees have official policies
limiting them to business use only, more or less guaranteeing that those customers end up carrying two phones. Other
dual-phone customers cited by the study include those who can't bear to part with their number even after getting an
employer-provided phone, and those whose travels straddle areas with spotty service on one service provider, and end up
with a second phone from another company. The study apparently didn't ask people whether they ended up with multiple
phones for the most obvious reason of all: they really want every available feature, including EV-DO, streaming video,
a high-megapixel camera, a big display, QWERTY keyboard, stereo Bluetooth and plenty of room for music, and can't find
all of them on one phone, so we, er, they, have to get more than one.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Eugenia @ Feb 21st 2006 9:56PM
I have 6 cellphones (sharing 1 SIM though) and 1 landline.
Deluxe @ Feb 21st 2006 10:21PM
Eugenia, that doesnt count! It only counts if all have a connection at the same time. My count is three. One personal, two work.
Adolfo Celis @ Feb 21st 2006 10:21PM
Lucky you. I wish both my cell phones used GSM so I could do the same... but nooo... my work phone is a CDMA phone, where my personal is GSM.
Anyone got a solution?
The closest i've found is a Samsung i830... but it only works on European GSM... and I'm in the USA. Boo hoo.
Eddie D @ Feb 21st 2006 10:40PM
I've had two cell phones now for about 4 or 5 years. Mainly because I'm straddled between two area codes, and for a while, like the article mentioned, one carrier would have good service in one area, while the other was stronger in a different area. Although for the past year I've had one phone, I'm now contemplating two again. Except one cell phone and one wifi phone.
Nick @ Feb 21st 2006 11:25PM
I have 2 phones, both with Verizon.
I have a Treo 700W, which is the phone I carry all day, every day.
I have a Razor, for when I go cycling; and the Treo is just too big. I just forward my Treo number to my Razr.
The Razr is on a family plan, so it cost me $10 per month to do this.
wulff @ Feb 21st 2006 11:56PM
what i want to know is why dual sim capability is not enabled in phones.. seriously! 16% of the market is quite a bit (yes i realize some are cross carrier). My s710a's user guide talks about a dual sim capability..but is it anywhere i can find? noo.. ****ing american marketplace
ShureF00t @ Feb 21st 2006 11:57PM
It's pretty common among high school & college students to have a Sidekick II for data and a separate Nextel handset for voice & "chirp" capabilities.
Devin Murphy @ Feb 22nd 2006 1:28AM
Cheap is not always good though it lowers standards
S Simmonds @ Feb 22nd 2006 1:57AM
Just when I thought we had trouble with devices. There's the phone and the PDA, and then there's that debate about whether to get an all-in-one, a PDA with phone.
Scenario 1:
I can't live without my PDA. Add the phone. Add the camera when needed, because phone cameras are pathetic. Add a music player/ipod if you can't fit enough music on your PDA's SD card. That's four devices and we're loaded with _another_ phone??
Scenario 2:
I finally got an all-in one PDA and phone, and now you want me to carry around _another_ phone??
You can't win? Scenario 3:
I want a phone with capacity for a dual sim. Finally back down to one device.
lpret @ Feb 22nd 2006 2:14AM
#6, when I lived in the Philippines (2001-ish) a friend of mine had a modified Nokia that accepted two sim cards. He was able to recieve calls from both and set a primary number from which to call from.
I think a dual sim capable phone would be nice, but I don't think we'll ever see it in the US.
CAT @ Feb 22nd 2006 2:15AM
Hello,
i have two mobile phones too, while most have a business number and personal number, i have two personal numbers.
I need those two numbers because i am travelling a lot between two countries. To keep the roaming costs low, i've decided to subscribe to one country and to take a prepaid card in the secound country.
There's a lot of backdraws, first of all i two different branch of mobile phones, this means i have two different charging adapters.
Carrying two mobile phones is very annoying.
I wonder if it's possible to make a sim card that support two ( or more ) numbers.
This will help much trouble away for business - personal or personal-personal.
Armaan @ Feb 22nd 2006 5:04AM
"when I lived in the Philippines (2001-ish) a friend of mine had a modified Nokia that accepted two sim cards. He was able to recieve calls from both and set a primary number from which to call from.
I think a dual sim capable phone would be nice, but I don't think we'll ever see it in the US."
Nearly all Nextel phones now sans Blackberries are capable of having two numbers for both inbound and outbound calls - with one sim card.
I have a Treo 600 personal phone and an i730 from Sprint/Nextel for whom I work.
Ian @ Feb 22nd 2006 5:08AM
Hrm, this doesn't bode well for Engadgetmobile to be saying people want EVDO. That's for people who are accustomed to CDMA. The more savvy people, the ones that would be more inclined to visit this site, would be smart enough to be looking for HSPDA-- The GSM-based technology. It's the world standard you know. I realize this was probably just a minor error on the part of Marc Perton, and as such, I'm willing to overlook it if he is willing to grovel and beg for our mercy.
In other words - CDMA SUCKS AND GSM ROX!!! LOL!!!!1
Oh, the N80 or N91 come SO close to the perfect phone. For me anyhow, where Qwerty isn't a high priority. But then, that's not EV-DO. MAN, that sucks.
Daniel @ Feb 22nd 2006 9:28AM
I have two - one for personal calls and one Treo 650 for work. (I finally got the Treo to sync with two calendars and have two address books - one for personal using Yahoo Calendar/Contacts and one syncing with Outlook).
So my life is sort of organized - until it's the weekend and I'm out and want to check my personal calendar - CRAP it's on my Treo at home!!
JJ @ Feb 22nd 2006 10:03AM
My brother keeps two phones: one for his girlfriend to call him on and one for all the other girls he's dating to call him at.
F. Villa @ Feb 22nd 2006 12:42PM
http://duosim.com/supersim.html
Using this SIM, I have three phone lines on one SIM. Depending on the phone (I have SE and Motorola), you might have to turn it off before you can switch to another number.
Adam @ Feb 22nd 2006 2:42PM
I'm a bit of an outlier, I suppose. I have 5 active sim cards. One is my main post-pay line, three are prepay that came with the phone (buying prepaid is cheaper than buying unlocked) and one is from SFR for when I'm in France. I guess you could also count my SkypeIn number, as it goes to my Seimens SX66.
I have 8 phones altogether, mostly from my slow process of upgrading to a better one when I could afford it.
Still no landline and no intention of getting one. Mobiles are the future.
Paul @ Feb 22nd 2006 5:41PM
I am ready for my new phone now! Please...
George @ Nov 14th 2006 11:27AM
I think that cell phone should have the capability of having more than one munber. Look at AOL, you can have more than one email address and you can switch between them easy with out signing off.
An opption of switching between phone munbers could be the same way. If you have more than one munber on your phone, and you get a call, your munbers would come up and the one that is being called could have a flashing bell next to it to let you know whitch munber to answer.
Erin @ Nov 14th 2006 12:01PM
I have 2 phones, 1 is for work && the other is for my personal use. Its nice cause my personal is verizon and my work is nextel. So verizon customers get free calls to each other && nextels have free direct connect...now all i need is a t-mobile && a cingular && i will never go over my cell phone bill again!!!
GIANNI @ Nov 14th 2006 2:46PM
Anyone who has suggestions, pls email Giannica2@aol.com: I would like to know if there is an inexpensive cell phone and plan available while I am in Italy for 1 1/2 months. I will need to call the USA from various areas of Italy. Even if you know of any calling cards that I can use with the cell phone that could make "cell minutes" and the cost of the call itself ... inexpensive ... I am open for suggestions!
Also - does anyone know if any cell phone plan offers "an extension" phone for a cell, as with home phones? I sometimes have my cell downstairs when I am upstairs ... and would love to be able to have an extra phone to answer for the "same phone number".