Ofcom study reveals that texting is now overtaking talking in the UK
Texting has become more popular than making phone calls in the UK, according to new research from Ofcom.
While 58% of people communicated via texts on a daily basis in 2011, only 47% made a daily mobile call, points out the country's communications industry regulator in its annual communications market report.
The move from traditional ways of communications is being led by young people aged 16-24, according to the report, as the average UK consumer now sends 50 texts per week while fewer calls are being made on both fixed and mobile phones.
As a result, the volume of mobile calls - by just over 1% - fell for the first time in 2011, while landline calls were down by 10%.In total, overall time spent on the phone fell by 5% in 2011.
James Thickett, Ofcom's director of research, said: "Talking face to face or on the phone are no longer the most common ways for us to interact with each other."
This shift is partly down to greater ownership of internet-connected devices.
Other statistics from the report included a 12 per cent increase in smartphone ownership amoung adults from 2010, with 39 per cent found to own one, with 42 percent of them saying that the smartphone was the most important device they owned for internet access. The average consumer spends 90 minutes a week accessing social networking sites and emails, while tablet ownership has also risen by 2 percent in the last year, to 11% owning a tablet device.
"People are using them [tablets] to check the weather, train times or send a quick email," said Thickett.
E-readers are also on the rise. 10% of people in the UK now own them, with 41% saying that they were reading more as a result.
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