Mobile: South Koreans are, by minutes of use, the leading users of mobile phones at 320 minutes per month

[joongangdaily] Koreans are the No. 1 cell phone users among developed nations based on their minutes of use, a leading local research institute reported yesterday.

An average Korean spent 320 minutes on the phone per month in the fourth quarter of last year, which is the longest among 49 countries where cell owners pay for outgoing calls, according to KT Management Research Laboratory.

The total monthly minutes called in Korea were more than two times greater than in Japan, where cell phone usage averaged 139 minutes per month.

And Koreans used their cell three times more than Germans, who spent a meager 102 minutes chatting.

The KT affiliate laboratory said the key reason Koreans come in on top for mobile phone usage is that calls in the country are relatively cheap compared to other countries. The group added that young people here simply prefer cell phones to other ways of staying in touch.

In Korea, the average charge per minute is $0.08, while in Australia it is $0.11. The calling rate per minute in England and Finland is $0.12, in France $0.14, in Germany $0.16 and in Japan $0.26.

“Koreans like spending long hours outdoors,” said an official at the laboratory. “Even when staying at home, a majority of Koreans call from their cell phones instead of landline phones.”

Meanwhile, Korea is known as one of the world’s most high-tech nations.

More than nine out of 10 people owned a mobile phone last year, according to the Korea Communications Commission.

SK Telecom is the nation’s leading telecom provider with 50.5 percent market share, followed by KTF and LG Telecom.

Koreans top world list for mobile phone usage