UK leads world in mobile internet use | Nicosia Business Review ...
The UK?s mobile users are consuming more data on their phones and tablets than any other leading nation for the first time, according to a report published by Ofcom on Thursday.
The communications regulator found that activities such as web browsing, video streaming and the use of social networking sites in Britain now exceed those in Japan, which has long been the trend setter.
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Shopping is a key driver of the surge in overall data consumption, with the UK now spending more online than any other country in the world. Shoppers spent more than ?1,000 a year via the internet for the first time in 2011, up 14 per cent from 2010, and pushing the UK higher than second-ranked Australia where consumers spent ?842.
The rapid rise in internet usage is in partly due to the widespread use of ?smart? devices, from phones and tablets to internet-enabled televisions, in the UK.
Indeed, UK consumers are the most likely in the world to access television content over the internet, ahead of the US. Almost a quarter of British internet users watch television every week, including popular ?catch-up? services such as BBC iPlayer, Sky Go and 4OD.
Ofcom?s seventh international communications market report shows that the UK online economy is in rude health, despite worries about the country?s digital infrastructure and a future ?capacity crunch?.
There has been criticism of delays in rolling out 4G mobile networks across the UK ? which are best suited for the sort of data-heavy applications that are already in common use by consumers ? as well as delayed attempts to link up remote parts of the UK which have no access to high-speed broadband.
Future superfast networks are seen by analysts as crucial for the future of the growing digital economy, as well as benefiting consumers.
In Britain, there is now at least limited 4G network access through Everything Everywhere, the mobile network operator. The company will on Thursday reveal the next tranche of cities to be included in its coverage ahead of an auction of the 4G spectrum in January.
Paolo Pescatore, director of apps and media at CSS Insight, said: ?Users in this country are very tech savvy. They want to be able to do more with their phones, which is why the auction of spectrum capable of 4G use is very important. People will be doing a lot when they use 4G than ever before, in particular using video.?
Ofcom?s report shows that the UK has one of the highest levels of penetration of smartphones in the world at 58 per cent of the population, while just fewer than one in five owns a tablet computer.
As a result, British consumers are downloading the most data on mobiles and tablets. In December 2011, the average UK mobile connection used 424 megabytes of data, higher than any other leading country, pushing Japan into second place at 392 megabytes and the US into sixth at 319 megabytes.
One-sixth of all website traffic in the UK was on a mobile, tablet or other connected device, higher than any other country in Europe.
James Thickett, Ofcom?s director of research, said: ?Our research shows that UK consumers continue to benefit from one of the most advanced markets for communications products and services.?
Overall, the average UK viewer watches more than four hours of television every day, with only the USA, at 293 minutes, and Italy, 253 minutes, watching more.
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