Companies court younger users.

Byline: SHERRI BURI McDONALD The Register-Guard

MEET THE wireless generation. Ariel Ungerleider, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Oregon, carries two cell phones. A compact, black Nokia hangs in a pouch on the strap of her Nike backpack. She also has a bright blue palm-size, pager/cell phone, from which she can send text messages or e-mail.

When the Nokia rings, it blares the "UO Fight Song" she downloaded from her computer.

Ungerleider says she got her first cell phone at age 15 because she had a full schedule of after-school sports and needed to stay in contact with her parents.

"And for all those important conversations with middle-school friends," she adds, jokingly.

Cell phones used to be a luxury. But now, with the average monthly wireless service cost at about $45 - half the price of a decade ago - teen-agers are as likely as executives to pack mobile phones.

Youths age 11 to 18 are the fastest growing segment of the wireless market, said Roger Entner, an analyst at the Yankee Group, a Boston-based technology research firm.

By the end of this year, 44 percent of both the adult and youth markets will have cell phones, the Yankee Group says. In five years, the firm predicts, 75 percent of the youth market and 65 percent of the adult market will have cell phones.

Companies aggressively court younger users. Verizon Wireless' family plan offers a price break and free phones when multiple family members use the service. Cricket Communication is launching a plan that offers unlimited talk in the Eugene-Springfield area for $32.95 a month.

"Youths are squarely in the target scope," Entner said.

Lost in the competitive frenzy are nagging questions about whether the phones are safe for young people, and about the potential long-term health effects of decades of cell-phone use.

Numerous reviews by the United States and other countries of the scientific research on cell phones have concluded that the data don't show a link between the phones' radio frequency energy and health problems. However, the studies don't prove that the phones are safe, and research is ongoing.

Health officials in one country - the United Kingdom - advise children younger than 16 to use mobile phones only in emergencies, and to keep calls brief.

The fear is that if cell phones do pose health problems, children would be at greatest risk. Their nervous systems, including their brains, are still developing, and radio waves penetrate their heads more deeply than adults.

American companies stop short of depicting young children with cell phones against their heads. But the pitch to teen-agers, and even preteens, is clear.

A Verizon Wireless ad in the Eugene-Springfield Yellow Pages shows a photo of a girl who appears to be a preteen, with the words: "Simple. Affordable. National. Join in."

Absent any findings of danger, Verizon is "just providing a service to a market that's interested in it," said spokeswoman Susan Shepard.

"I'm not sure we're marketing to children," she said. "We're marketing to young people 18 to 24."

When asked about the "Join in" ad, Shepard responded: "Cell phones appeal to younger people and we have taken a younger, more hip advertising stance. Where that line in age is, is something I couldn't tell you - whether the kids in the ads are 18."

Health concerns won't dampen the popularity of cell phones among youths, analyst Entner says. "The children at that age have this intense feeling of belonging to a group and having contact with their friends," he said.

Parents, who pay for their children's phones 72 percent of the time, probably won't worry, Entner added. "In the end, if your child nags for the 53rd time, the parent says, `What the heck, this isn't worth it.' ''

Scientist George Carlo, a leading critic of the cellular industry, suggests teens wear headsets to keep the cell phone away from their heads, and thus reduce the amount of radio frequency penetrating the head.

But headsets aren't cool among the younger set.

Ungerleider, the UO student, uses an earpiece/microphone with her palm-size cell phone, but sometimes resists wearing it around campus.

"If you're walking and talking, especially when my hair is like this," she says, flipping her long, brown locks forward, "it looks like I'm talking to myself." Definitely not cool.

CAPTION(S):

NICOLE DeVITO / The Register-Guard UO students Ariel Ungerleider, 19, (left) and Tori Luke, 19, are part of the hot target market for wireless phone services.