Mobile phone take-up is growing faster in the UK than almost any other European country.

With the arrival of WAP services, we are on the verge of a new phone-tariff price war but this time the winners could actually be consumers.

The main players, BT Cellnet, Orange and Vodafone, have all announced price reductions in the last few months.

In the main, these reductions are based on the way users make calls.

New calling plans are constantly being promoted which claim to offer a better deal for consumers.

Peter Richardson, marketing director of BT Cellnet, commented on the new calling plans: "The growth of the mobile internet means customers today are faced with even more choices in mobile communication.

"BT Cellnet's new calling plans are designed to have enough flexibility to meet different people's needs, whether for voice or mobile internet.

"But they are also competitively priced and very easy to understand."

Reductions in nearly all BT Cellnet's monthly call charges mean most BT Cellnet customers are now getting more inclusive minutes for their money than are currently being offered by any other network.

And it doesn't stop there.

The latest BT Cellnet deal is called NETplan and is aimed at WAP users.

Customers who sign up before September 30 get free connection, saving a further £35.

In addition, NETplan customers will benefit from BT Cellnet's lowest-ever daytime charge of 18p per minute.

All monthly paying customers will continue to benefit from a 2p-per-minute weekend rate.

This compares favourably overall with Orange's offering and matches the best Vodafone can offer.

But, surprise, surprise, Vodafone says it has a new plan coming soon that will knock the spots off any deal Cellnet can come up with.

On September 1, Vodafone says it will be dropping prices again to 10p per minute peak rate and 5p off-peak.

Is the firm just making the most of its new promotion on the shirts of Manchester United?

Or is this a rapid "me-too" marketing reaction to BT Cellnet's latest price drop?

The mobile telephony market is getting more and more cut-throat by the day.

So how do the other major players stack up against BT Cellnet?

Orange prices initially look better than their opposition.

There is no connection charge. A monthly fee starts at £17.50 with peak time calls starting from 15p per minute and dropping to 5p per minute off-peak.

Getting a good deal from Orange really depends on when you want to make calls.

Vodafone asks for a £35 connection charge.

Its best deal attracts a monthly charge of £40 and 18p per minute for peak-time calls and 5p per minute for off-peak.

Vodafone also offers a 2p-per-minute tariff but this is subject to a £2.50 surcharge per month for local call billing.

The mobile phone charge minefield is really hard to navigate, even for the experts.

Until all the various service providers come up with a simple tariff structure which makes it easy to understand where a good deal can be found, then buyers simply have to look at all the options before signing up for a new phone contract.

Do not misunderstand the situation, there really are some good deals on offer.

But the best advice is to shop around and study all the tariffs on offer in all the big-name phone shops.

Only stop looking once you find one which really suits you.