Brown gains £15bn from mobiles

BRITAIN'S mobile phones sector now contributes as much to the economy as the oil and gas extraction industry. Chancellor Gordon Brown would have to find the equivalent of 3p on the basic rate of income tax if he did not get the £15bn a year the industry contributes to Government finances.

The findings come in a report out today from the Centre for Economic and Business Research and commissioned by mobiles operator mmO2.

Peter Erskine, chief executive of mmO2 said: 'No one should underestimate the impact of the mobile on economic prosperity. This is a significant industry making a major contribution to the economy and, given the right conditions, it is set to increase its impact.'

In the past 20 years, mobiles had grown from zero to 'something bigger than the whole of the print, paper and publishing sector', he added.

Mobiles account for 2.3% of the UK economy, or £22.9bn a year. That is about the same as the oil and gas industry and the food manufacturing industry.

The industry employs 200,000 people who are among the most productive in the country, each accounting for £120,000 of revenue per year - three times the national average.

Erskine admitted: 'We commissioned this research as an input into the public policy debate going on around mobile.

'Mast-siting issues, for example, the need for an infrastructure of cell sites and ongoing deliberations about price regulation need to be seen in the context of what mobile contributes.

'There is a great deal staked on the health and success of the industry.'