Detox Your Mobile Phone

After all the indulgence over the Christmas period, thousands of us have been heading to the gym, cutting back on the booze and throwing out the chocolate to start the year afresh. However, new research from Virgin Mobile reveals that it is not just our bodies that are detoxing this month; our mobile phones are getting a good clear out too.

In a poll of over 2,000 people it was found that over a third of all mobile phones in the UK contain numbers that are unknown to their owners with the average user admitting to adding between three and six unidentifiable numbers every month. These results mean that approximately 576 million unwanted and unknown numbers were added to mobile phones in 2006 alone.

The results revealed that one of the most common times unwanted numbers are added to phones is while people are under the influence of alcohol. According to 15% of Britons, going out to pubs and clubs is a key time for random numbers to be added to their mobiles, with a further 23% saying that making ad hoc work contacts was to blame for unidentified numbers.

Furthermore, the results prove that mobile phonebooks are fast becoming cluttered with unwanted numbers which have no relevance or use to the owner. The survey reveals that over 40% of the population will be deleting all unknown numbers from their phones in a mass new year 'phone detox'.

Simon Dornan, spokesperson for Virgin Mobile, said: "It is amazing to think that over 570 million unwanted numbers will be erased from our mobile phones in January! We are all guilty of collecting numbers for a plethora of reasons, it might be that you were drunk at a Christmas party and wanted to make a quick escape from an unwanted admirer by agreeing to take their details or perhaps you were just being polite because someone asked for yours. It can also be a simple case of making new work contacts and then forgetting the person's name and where you met them. January is the perfect time to clear out all the debris from your life including your phone, you will feel liberated afterwards."

Posted to the site on 9th January 2007