Who Uses Cellular Phones?

A recent survey of executives shows that small companies are more liberal in granting cellular phone privileges.

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From a recent 529-executive sampling, PacTel cellular draws a portrait of wireless-communication management that often shows small companies in stark contrast with big business. For one thing, small businesses appear to be more liberal than large ones. Small fry (companies with 20 to 99 employees) provide 14% of their workers with cellular telephones, while companies with more than 1,000 employees provide phones for only 8%. A major penny-pinching exception: 15% of small companies limit cellular privileges to business hours, versus only 8% of large businesses. (But more than 90% of CEOs at companies large and small have cellular phones.) Other findings:

Small Large businesses businesses

Company position on cellular phoning (% of respondents)

Has expense-reporting controls in place 47% 79%

Restricts cellular use because can't justify costs 34 47

Fears employees will abuse by making personal calls 30 46

Wishes there were a way to limit number of calls 23 36

Expects to increase cellular access in 1994 22 51

Sets dollar limit for each employee 12 21

Objects to complex billing summaries 17 39

Holds individual employee responsible for paying bill 16 36

Issues users written set of cost-management policies 8 28

Sets outgoing-call limit per employee per day 5 3

Source: "Cellular Use and Cost Management in Business," PacTel Cellular, Walnut Creek, Calif.