Consumers are confused about the rebranding of two of the UK's biggest mobile firms, a survey has found.

Many mobile users are not aware of the name change of T-Mobile and 02, formerly known as One2One and BTCellnet, says a study by analysts Continental Research.

Over 90% of Orange and Vodafone users recognise their mobile operator, but only 39% of 02 users could spontaneously name the firm.

T-Mobile fared a little better, with 66% of its users able to name it.

Communicating change

Recent campaigns such as 02's sponsorship of the hugely successful Big Brother 3 could help to raise awareness.

But more needs to be done said Continental Research Director Colin Shaddick.

"Among current users of the 02 network, awareness of the old brand BTCellnet is twice as high," he said.

"This does suggest that there has been some difficulty communicating the change of name to current users of the network."

Youth market

Targeting the youth market will be a key priority if BT wants to follow in the successful footsteps of handset maker Nokia, Mr Shaddick said.

Nokia handsets account for 45% of the UK market. Nokia owners are also heavier users of their phones making more voice calls and sending more text messages than the owners of other handsets.

"This increased mobile usage and subsequent larger bill size among Nokia owners is likely to be due to the fact that Nokia owners have a younger age profile than owners of other handsets," said Mr Shaddick.