Okay, time to own up. Here at Newsflash Online, we can get a little over-attached to our phones, but it seems that we are certainly not alone.
According to a new report from Ofcom, the average adult in the UK checks their phone every 12 minutes of every waking hour. Additionally, nearly four-fifths (78%) say that they couldn’t live without their phones, while 71% admit that they never turn off their devices.
Calls over mobile network fell for the first time
The Communication Markets 2018 report found that 78% of adults in the UK now own a smartphone, but the way that we use them is changing. Around three quarters of people still regard voice calling as an important function of their phone, but the number of calls made over mobile fell in 2017 for the first time since Ofcom started collating data.
This does not necessarily mean that people are talking less, however, as the telecommunications watchdog does not currently collect data on the usage of chat apps with a calling or voice recording element, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Ofcom's Director of Market Intelligence Ian Macrae said: ‘Over the last decade, people's lives have been transformed by the rise of the smartphone, together with better access to the internet and new services.
‘Whether it is working flexibly, keeping up with current affairs or shopping online, we can do more on the move than ever before.
‘But while people appreciate their smartphone as their constant companion, some are finding themselves feeling overloaded when online, or frustrated when they're not.’
Web browsing is crucial
While using a smartphone as an actual telephone might be seen as less important, the overwhelming majority of smartphone owners (92%) said that the ability to browse the web on their devices was ‘crucial’.
Just over a third (34%) of respondents said that they ‘feel cut off’ without access to the internet, while 29% said that they ‘felt lost’ without it.
According to the report, the average user spends two hours, 28 minutes per day on their smartphone, rising to three hours, 14 minutes for 18 to 24-year-olds. The average consumer spends around 24 hours per week online, with half of that time spent browsing on their smartphone. On average, users got through 1.9GB of data each month.
Today’s news was brought to you by TD SYNNEX – the UK's number one distributor.
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