Spotlight on: students and their phones

The majority of students already have a mobile phone when they arrive at university. But a major change takes place in their relationship with this most vital of new technologies. For most, university marks the time when they start paying the bill out of their own pocket. Suddenly students start looking more closely at free text offers, money-off incentives and complimentary top-up cards.

There are plenty of other attractive reasons for mobile phone retailers to talk to the student market. Students are early-adopters - they are quick to pick up on new products, especially communications tools, providing they can see value in what's on offer. They are tech-savvy; able and willing to learn how new features work. And most importantly, communication is their lifeblood - campus life is built around sociability, and today the mobile phone glues it all together.

There are also practical factors that mark out students as a key audience. Few of them, knowing they are likely to have numerous addresses while at university, bother with a landline. For most, the mobile is their only phone. For some, it is also their only watch, camera, diary or camcorder.

Even universities themselves, often quite behind with student trends when it comes to marketing, have realised the role mobiles play in students' lives. This year Bradford University sent text messages to students waiting for A-level results reading "Hoping 4 gr8 results Thursday :-) frm bfd uni".

A survey by Orange found that students are finding ever more creative ways of improving time management using their mobile phones. Of 1,000 questioned, three-quarters said they would rather call a friend at the bar to place a drinks order than queue themselves. Nearly half say they would resort to calling their flatmates on their mobiles when they are too hungover to get out of bed. 86% admitted to sending a sneaky text during lectures, while 80% of all student text messages are about campus gossip (and that applies to male students as well as female). David Taylor, commercial director at Orange UK, says: "Increasingly, students are relying on their mobile phones for even the most basic communication needs."

Because students are always looking for ways to stick out in the crowd, novel phone applications and features are always popular. Ringtones and logos remain of interest - last year, according to NOP, 80% of 15- to 24-year-olds downloaded at least one ringtone.