Smartphones are now the device used most to access the internet in the UK. According to a new study, almost one-third of people in the UK access web-hosted content via a smartphone.
That’s up a full 10 percent over last year, according to an Ofcom study provided to The Guardian.
The reason for such a profound uptick is a desire for video, and higher connection speeds. As high-speed 4G network availability expands, so does the accessibility to online media.
The 10 percent rise in internet smartphone access comes at the detriment of laptop computers, which dropped an equal percentage, according to Ofcom.Another 19 percent of those studied used tablets, up from 15 percent the previous year.
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Ofcom also says two-thirds of adults in the UK now have smartphone, up from 39 percent last year. The average amount of time spent online using a smartphone is just under two hours (one hour and 54 minutes).
According to a study by Global Web Index, these figures put the UK right in line with the rest of the world. In that global study, a full 80 percent of users owned smartphones, using them about the same amount of time as those in Ofcom’s UK study.
➤ Smartphone now most popular way to browse internet – Ofcom report [The Guardian]
Read next: This chart shows the world’s internet usage shifting to smartphones
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