Teenagers Most Likely To Buy New Cell PhonesTeenagers Most Likely To Buy New Cell Phones

Teenagers in Europe are significantly more likely to replace their cell phones sooner than any other demographic group, according to a study released Monday by Telephia, a telecommunications performance measurement firm.

Specifically, European teens between 15 and 17 years old replace their cell phones, on average, every 20.3 months, the study found. This reflects more than just the need for teenagers to have the coolest new gear, a Telephia executive said.

"Young mobile users are naturally more apt to adopt advanced data services," Bernard Brenner, Telephia's international director of new products, said in a statement. "Teens and young adults are more than twice as likely as older users to use advanced services and applications such as MP3 and video downloads. This creates the need for more frequent replacement just to stay technologically current."

Older users, defined as being 55 or older, are the slowest to replace their phones, replacing their mobile devices about every 31 months, the study found.

Throughout Europe, the average cellular subscriber replaces his or her phone every 25.1 months, the study found. Cellular subscribers in Spain and Italy are, by a narrow margin, the leading phone replacers, switching their phones, on average, about every 23 months. Users in the U.K. Replace their phones every 24 months while Swedish users replace their phones every 25 months. French and German users replace their phones, on average, about every 26.5 months.