UK - A nation of early adopters and online spenders in terms of smartphones

[guardian] TV viewing not falling as families return to living rooms, while internet usage grows steadily, finds communications study from media regulator

Britons are a nation of early technology adopters who have embraced smartphones and the mobile internet more rapidly than other nations and spend more online than any other European country, according to new research from the media regulator Ofcom.

The UK saw the fastest growth in smartphone take-up in the past year among European countries, with a 70% rise in subscriber numbers between January 2009 and January this year, according to the watchdog's fifth International Communications Market Report 2010.

The study (which is available in full from Ofcom) analysed the availability and usage of landlines, broadband, mobile phones, TV and radio in 17 countries. Generally, it found a long-term trend across the seven main countries studied – the UK, US, Germany, France, Japan, Italy and Spain – where there are fewer fixed-line connections for voice calls (but a growing number of "naked" phone lines that only offer broadband) and more mobile connections, pointing towards a future when people access the internet and phone services wirelessly all the time.

Ofcom: UK is nation of early adopters and online spenders
see also OFCOM study