Smartphone usage in the UK has rapidly increased with more than a quarter of adults (27%) and almost half of teenagers (47%) now own a smartphone, according to Ofcom’s latest Communications Market Report.
iPhones, Blackberrys and Android phones comprise the majority (59%) of smartphones acquired by users over the past year.
The study revealed a significant increase in calls and text sent through smartphones compared to regular phones, with 81% of smartphone users make calls every day compared with 53% of regular users.
When asked about the use of these devices, 37% of adults and 60% of teens admit that they are ‘highly addicted’, the report said.
The vast majority of smartphone users (81%) have their mobile switched on all of the time, with four in ten adults (38%) and teens (40%) admitting using their smartphone after it woke them.
Over half (51%) of adults and two thirds (65%) of teenagers say they have used their smartphone while socialising with others, according to the report.
Thirty per cent of smartphone users say they regularly take part in personal phone calls during working hours, compared with 23% of regular mobile phone users.
Smartphone users are, however, more likely to take part in work calls while on holiday or annual leave, with 70% say they have ever done so, with 24% admitting to doing so regularly, compared with just 16% of ordinary mobile phone users.
The report also found that just under half (47%) of adult smartphone users have downloaded an app – with many people taking advantage of the availability of free apps.
Teenage smartphone owners are more likely to have paid for an app download (38%) than adult owners, amongst whom just a quarter had paid for an app.
The Ofcom report also found that majority of homes in the UK is now connected to the internet, nearly 76% in 2011 compared to 25% in 2000.
Nine out of ten people own a mobile phone in 2011 and one in seven households are now mobile-only, as the penetration of landlines dropped from 93% in 2000 to 81% in 2011, the report said.
A growth of 250% has been seen in the number of mobile voice minutes over the past decade (from 35 billion to 125 billion per year), and the number of text messages sent has increased by 2,000% (from 7 billion to 129 billion per year).
When asked what media would be missed the most, people aged over 75 are also far more likely to miss their TVs the most (65 per cent), whereas young adults aged 16-24 would most miss their mobile phone (28%), followed by the internet (26%).
Fifty-seven per cent of households are now passed by superfast broadband, with around 500,000 households had adopted superfast broadband – with a headline speed of 30Mbit/s or higher in 2011, a fivefold increase from 2010.
About 80% of people in UK are saying that they are satisfied with superfast broadband connectivity compared to 57% satisfied with their previous broadband service.
The report also found that just 61% of Scottish homes having broadband access compared to 71% in Wales and 75% in Northern Ireland.
Total UK broadband take-up increased by 3 percentage points to 74% in Q1 2011, showing the largest increase in adoption from those using fixed services – mainly among older age groups. Total telecoms revenues fell by 2% in 2010.
In the first three months of 2011, 28% of UK adults said they accessed the Internet on their mobile, up from 22% in 2010.
Nearly half of UK adults (48%) said they used social networking sites in the first three months of 2011, up from 40% in 2010.
The report also indicated that internet advertising spend is marginally more than advertising spend in TV. Internet advertising spend grew by 16% in 2010 to over £4bn, mobile advertising increased by 121% in 2010 to reach £83m.
