Task
The chart below shows the total number of minutes (in billions) of telephone calls in the UK, divided into three categories, from 1995-2002.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Examiner’s Answer
The chart shows the time spent by UK residents on different types of telephone calls between 1995 and 2002.
Local fixed line calls were the highest throughout the period, rising from 72 billion minutes in 1995 to just under 90 billion in 1998. After peaking at 90 billion the following year, these calls had fallen back to the 1995 figure by 2002.
National and international fixed line calls grew steadily from 38 billion to 61 billion at the end of the period in question, though the growth slowed over the last two years.
There was a dramatic increase in mobile calls from 2 billion to 46 billion minutes. This rise was particularly noticeable between 1999 and 2002, during which time the use of mobile phones tripled.
To sum up, although local fixed line calls were still the most popular in 2002, the gap between the three categories had narrowed considerably over the second half of the period in question.
