Smartphone Overtakes Laptop in UK as Top Internet Access Device, Ofcom Says

The smartphone overtook the laptop in the U.K. as the most popular device for getting Internet access, regulator Ofcom said in a report. Two-thirds of British consumers own a smartphone, using it on average for nearly two hours a day to browse the Internet, access social media and bank and shop online, it said. Ofcom found that a third of Internet users canvassed see their smartphone as the most important device for going online, compared with 30 percent who are sticking with their laptop. The rise in smartphones for Internet use “marks a clear shift” since 2014, when 22 percent turned to their phones first, and 40 percent preferred laptops, it said. “Smartphones have become the hub of our daily lives,” and are now owned by two-thirds of U.K. adults, up from 39 percent three years ago, it said. Though 90 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds own a smartphone, ownership since 2012 also has doubled to 50 percent among those ages 55-64, it said. “The surge is being driven by the increasing take-up of 4G mobile broadband, providing faster online access.”