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It is the first time that O2 has lead in the annual study for pre-pay and contract customers, beating Orange which topped the list in 2005.

Vodafone is ranked second overall for pre-pay customers, with Virgin Mobile third, but performing well in customer service and cost. T-Mobile was ranked fifth.

Contract customers placed Orange second, with Vodafone third and T-Mobile fourth.

The study also shows that mobile users made more calls this year, with pre-pay customers making an average of 14 calls a week, a rise of three from 11 and contract customers making 35 calls week, a rise of four calls from 31.

Higher rankings were also given to mobile providers offering incentives like upgrades, extra minutes or credits.

This comes after Orange, which was ranked fourth in the study for pre-pay customers, announced that it is to offer free broadband to customers spending over £30 on a mobile phone contract.

The customer will have to sign an 18-month contract and continue to pay £11 a month line rental to BT until Orange is able to take control of their landline, which will happen later this year.

The move follows the mobile companies' integration with ISP Wanadoo, and says it wants to become a "one stop shop" for consumer communications.

In April, Carphone Warehouse kickstarted the multiple offering "frenzy" with its TalkTalk package offering customers free broadband "forever".

Customers also have to contract to TalkTalk for 18 months, but the £21 monthly cost includes unlimited UK calls, and the monthly BT line rental.

With NTL's recent acquisition of Virgin Mobile, the cable company plans to provide a "quadruple play" service of broadband, fixed line, TV and mobile. BT is also planning to provide quadruple play through its BT Vision service.

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