Almost half of UK internet users are going online via mobile phone data connections, according to the Office for National Statistics.
\nForty-five percent of people surveyed said they made use of the net while out and about, compared with 31 percent in 2010.
\nThe most rapid growth was among younger people, where 71 percent of internet-connected 16 to 24-year-olds used mobiles.
\nDomestic internet use also rose. According to the ONS, 77 percent of households now have access to a net connection.
\nThat figure was up 4 percent from the previous year, representing the slowest rate of growth since the ONS survey began in 2006.
\nAmong the 23 percent of the population who remain offline, half said they “didn’t need the internet.”
\nThe ONS report is the first since dot-com entrepreneur Martha Lane-Fox was appointed as the government’s UK Digital Champion, with a brief to increase internet uptake.
\nIn a statement, Lane-Fox said: “That so many offline households don’t see any reason to get online reinforces the importance of the digital champions network that the Raceonline2012 partners are creating.”
\nMobile revolution
\nThe figure for domestic connections contrasted sharply with the rapid growth in uptake of mobile services.
\nHowever, the popularity of 3G broadband did not necessarily mean that more people were going online overall.
\nMany of those using mobile phones are likely to already have home broadband connections.
\nOlder users, who the government is particularly keen to get connected, appeared to have been relatively untouched by the phenomenon.
\nWhile 71 percent of 16 to 24-year-old who went online said they used mobile broadband, just 8 percent of internet users aged over 65 made use of the newer technology.
\nThe ONS survey also found a dramatic rise in the use of wifi hotspots – a seven-fold increase since 2011 – suggesting that the rise of 3G has done little to slow demand for free and paid-for wireless access.
\nAll findings were based on a monthly survey of 1,800 randomly selected adults from across the UK.<\/p>\n

-With bbc.co.uk<\/span> input<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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