Smartphones now most popular device for accessing the internet
It has been revealed that more people access the internet from their smartphone than from their laptop.
One-third of people now prefer to get online through their smartphone. The number of subscriptions to 4G services has grown tenfold within the last 12 months and there is now record ownership of smartphones.
The details were revealed by Ofcom in its 2015 Communications Market Report. In Q1 of this year 33% of people saw their handset as the most important device for accessing online services; at the same time last year, this figure was just 23%.
30% of people considered their laptop the most important device for getting online in Q1 this year; last year this figure was 40%.
Two-thirds of adults currently own a smartphone, compared with just 39% in 2012. 90% of 16- to 24-year-olds have a smartphone, while the level of ownership in the 55- to 64-year-old age group has more than doubled within the last three years.
Ofcom said that the increase in smartphone usage has been led by the wider availability of 4G services, meaning that people can access the internet much more quickly. In 2014 the number of 4G subscriptions increased dramatically from 2.7 million to 23.6 million.
4G smartphone users are now doing more shopping, banking, watching TV and making more video and voice calls via the internet. 89.5% of properties in the UK can currently access 4G services.