Company mobiles a thing of the past?

The proportion of small and medium-sized businesses with company mobile phones has fallen, possibly thanks to the rise of home working.

Mobile penetration in the small-business market is falling, according to Ofcom's annual report into the communications market.

Sixty-four percent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) had at least one mobile phone in 2001 — now, the figure now stands at 55 percent.

The reason for this decline is that "a lot of businesses are relying on personal contracts for their employees" and then reimbursing them for business calls rather than getting them dedicated business contracts, according to John Lewis, Ofcom's head of telecoms market intelligence.

The trend also coincides with the rise of home working.

David Meyer writes for ZDNet UK