71% of 16 to 24-yr-olds access internet on smartphone

New government research has shown that 45% of people in the UK use their mobile phone to access the internet, with 6 million using the net on their phone for the first time this year.

Wireless hotspot usage has almost doubled over the course of the past year and is now used by 4.9 million of us.

The research looked at how individuals access the web, why they use it and the extent to which young people use social networking sites to communicate.

Whilst 77% of households now have internet access, the research shows that there have been significant changes in the way people connect, as many people now use their smartphones for surfing.

The rate of growth in the use of smartphone technology was fastest among those aged 16 to 24, with internet use via their handset increasing from 44% to 71% over the last 12 months. However, the research noted that there had been significant growth in all age groups.

Women use the net on phones more in general, with 39% now choosing to surf this way compared to 18% a year ago.

Laptops and tablet devices have also unsurprisingly seen a rise in use, as more and more people connect using them away from the home or work. This has meant a significant growth in the use of hotspots provided in pubs, restaurants, hotels and airports.

Of course, social networking has proved to be the most popular activity amongst young people, with 91% saying they use Facebook or Twitter. However, this was also seen to have risen in higher age groups with 18% of over 65s admitting to participating.

Women are more likely to use social media sites, coming out ahead of men at 60% compared to 54%. However, men are more likely to use professional networking sites with 16% having used them, compared to just 9% of women.

Online shopping in all its forms showed growth too, with over 12 million people selling on sites such as eBay, and 32 million people purchasing goods over the internet (a figure which has risen by 4% this year).

The most popular online purchases were clothes and sporting goods with 46% of people buying those items. Films and music were hot on the heels of these products though, with 40% of people choosing to buy them online.

The only group who didn’t report clothes as their favourite was the over 65s, who would rather make travel arrangements via the internet than buy clothes.

However, whilst internet usage is up across the board, 1 in 5 people said that they weren’t confident enough when it came to protecting their personal data. 19% said that they wouldn’t know how to prevent a virus from infecting their computer.

Despite the growth in household connections, there remains around 5.7 million which don’t have access to the internet. Some of these were due to high equipment costs, whilst 21% said that they lacked the skills to use the web. However, half of those asked said they “don’t need the internet.”

Although broadband has now almost completely replaced dial-up, it seems that 2% of connected households still use dial-up, which must be frustrating in this age of streaming content.