how much did mobile usage increase with the introduction of pay as you go?

Answer 1

At Christmas 1999 Vodafone connected so many people to the network that they doubled their customer base in 2 days. BT Cellnet (as it then was) had a waiting list of up to 36 hours and Orange were connecting within 24. No real figures can be given but it's estimated that between the 4 major companies an extra 400 per cent of people (each!) were added before new year. So much so that at new year 1999-2000 all four networks temporarily ran out of capacity as people tried to phone or text friends or relatives at midnight. Pay as you go was seen as a minor sideline when introduced, contracts were thought to be the way forward. So popular did PaYG become that Orange was able to decrease call charges dramatically forcing the other networks to comply or lose custom, and it is still a bigger cash-cow than contract, though it doesn't have a regular and predictable flow of income for the networks, so contract is their preferred option.
Before PaYG hardly anyone had a mobile at all, and it was almost unheard of to have one for private or leisure use. It's thought that there are now more mobiles than people in the UK (don't ask me how that works!) and some 70 per cent are PaYG.

Answer 2

I found it increased a lot. Too many phones are now trying to crowd onto transmitters only capable of handling a certain amount of calls, & people are getting cut off, in favour of new callers joining the network. Next time YOU make a call at peak time, remember someone may be getting cut off, cos the network can't handle it.

Answer 3

A lot.