The use of mobile phones to access the internet has grown faster in Scotland than any other part of the UK, Ofcom research finds.
One-quarter of households in Scotland now own a tablet computer, with take-up more than doubling in the last year, from 11% to 24%, equal to the UK average.
Scots are increasing their searching or reading of the internet on their phones – the proportion of those in Scotland that access the web on their mobile was 44% in 2013, an increase of 13 percentage points.
This increase has been partly driven by the rise in smartphone ownership in Scotland: up 13 percentage points to 45% of adults, a figure which is still below the UK average of 51%.
Mobile ownership overall stands at 92% in Scotland. The findings are in Ofcom's Communications Market Report for Scotland 2013.
The report also finds that home broadband take-up in Scotland increased from 68% in 2012 to 70% in 2013, continuing an upward trend from 2011, though below the UK average of 75%.
The survey reveals less money from public service broadcasters was spent in Scotland on programmes specifically for Scotland – down 6% from 2011 to 2012 to £52 million.
Vicki Nash, director of Ofcom Scotland, said: "It is good to see Scotland catching up in use of communications and media. This applies to the rise in take-up of tablets, mobiles and smartphones, along with growth in mobile internet. Once people in Scotland discover the advantages of being connected, they appear to make the most of it."
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