According to the latest Communications Market Report released by British telecommunications regulator Ofcom on Thursday, smartphones have – for the first time ever – overtaken laptops as the most preferred devices for Britons to go online.
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Laptops were the choice of 30 per cent, followed by 19 per cent for tablets and only 14 per cent for desktop computers.
Smartphones have become the hub of our daily lives and are now in the pockets of two-thirds (66pc) of UK adults, up from 39pc in 2012. However such sentiment is not reserved for post, with 23 percent not sending a single item of mail in the past month and 80 percent of 16-34 year olds say email has replaced the postman for them. On the whole 4G users are doing nearly twice as much online than 3G ones and spending more time surfing the web than on PCs.
The use of tablets like iPads has increased as well, up 10% from last year, meaning that just over half of all UK households now own one.
These figures come from Ofcom’s annual Communications Market report, which takes a broad look at how the UK is using the Internet, telecoms, TV, radio, and postal services.
It also reveals that whilst 55% of people think it is unacceptable to check your phone at the dinner table, 40% of people do it anyway.
At least one 4G mobile broadband service is now available to 89.5 per cent of UK premises, with 42 per cent able to choose from all four major mobile operators – EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.
Researchers could not say whether the advanced tech specifications of smartphones have led to the new selfie phenomenon or whether this Internet sensation has rendered smartphones more popular among users.
On the other hand, James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of research, explained that 4G technology has also helped the movement as people use it to do everything from shopping to chatting with friends. Unsurprisingly the highest rate of ownership comes in 16-24 age bracket, with 90% of people owning smartphones (up from 66% in 2012).
She added: “For younger people they have grown up with the internet and are more confident being online”. The amount of time UK adults spend online has also doubled in the past decade to more than 20 hours per week. The United Kingdom had last year a record increase in time spent online in a decade.
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But this is still only half of the 3 hours and 40 minutes we spend in front of the TV each day.
