50% of Australian kids have a cell phone

50% of Australian children now own a mobile phone, which they use for a wide array of services beyond calls and SMS, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. There was an explosion in the use of camera phones, particularly among children and teenagers in metro areas of Australia, from 2% in 2003 to 52% in 2005. Currently, 61% of all parents in Australia's metropolitan areas pay for their children's mobile phone costs. In 2003, less than half of all parents footed the bill, but it remains to be seen if this trend will continue in the future, considering that Australian kids indicated in the study that they are looking forward to the rich content provided by third-generation handsets.