Calls to make, people to tweet

AT LAST we know what those people glued to their mobile phones on the bus in the mornings are doing. The vast majority are checking social networking sites nevertheless, if they are not doing that, they are probably paying bills.

New report from the Australian Communications

A new report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority revealed that in June, nearly 4 million people age 14 or over used their mobile phone to access the internet, a 63 per cent increase on the previous June.

The emerging mobile telecommunications report found that 1.55 million people in June used their mobile phone to access social networking sites just as Facebook or Twitter, during 751,000 used their phones to do banking or pay bills.

More than 550,000 people streamed videos or movies, 304,000 streamed audio, 274,000 used a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service and 100,000 used their mobile phone for online shopping.

The report found 37 per cent of Australian mobile phone users have a smartphone just as an iPhone or an Android and 58 per cent have a 3G phone. Nearly 60 per cent of people age 18 to 24 have a smartphone and 90 per cent of smartphone users access the web with their phones.

The chairman of the authority

The chairman of the authority, Chris Chapman, said that accessing online services via mobile phones was becoming increasingly popular for Australians, who were regarded as early adopters of research.

''The rising popularity of smartphones, in parallel with increased mobile phone data allowances and network capabilities, is encouraging the accessing of online services by mobile,'' Mr Chapman said.

Fully-fledged participant in the digital economy

''The mobile phone is a fully-fledged participant in the digital economy, as things now stand becoming a converged device that more and more consumers use to access functions other than just voice.''

Mr Chapman said the telecommunications industry was rapidly changing, especially with the emergence of new services just as VoIP and free mobile messaging applications.

Integral feature of the mobile phone

''Internet access has become an integral feature of the mobile phone and this has been complemented by the development of … applications which allow users access to specific services at the touch of a screen,'' he said.