April/May 2008

More than 70 per cent of all workers talk business on their mobile phones in public, and one in five talks about business-critical subjects such as sales leads. Fifteen per cent say they're prepared to discuss confidential new products or services openly whilst travelling, and more than a quarter actually admit to following up on leads they have overheard in someone else's phone conversation.

These are among findings of a survey commissioned by Vodafone. It also found that over half of the mobile phone users surveyed are happy to use ordinary mobile phones to talk business in public, and never switch to a more private communication channel such as email or text. And only 6 per cent of people use code names for individuals, places or projects when talking in public.

The findings were released at the same time as an announcement that Vodafone is working with Virgin Trains to improve mobile phone coverage within carriages. 'Repeater' technology, which retransmits 2G and 3G within carriages, is to be installed on all 52 of Virgin's high speed Pendolino trains on the London to Glasgow route by November. It is said to improve the number of calls completed without interruption by around 60 per cent.

But it won't stop people giving away secrets, of course.