Four out of 10 adults in the United Kingdom regularly visited social networking sites during 2006--more than anywhere else in Europe--according to the latest International Communications Market report released by the Office of Communications (Ofcom).
Last year, users spent on average 5.3 hours per month on the sites and returned to them 23 times during each month.
As a result, companies spent more on Web advertising per person in the U.K. than anywhere else, shelling out an average of US$67 (33 pounds) per person--twice as much as France, Germany and Italy combined.
Ofcom's report also looks at the global television, radio and telecoms markets during 2006, comparing the U.K. to 11 other countries.
The U.K. led the way in a number of other areas, with slightly more than half of all U.K. households having a broadband connection by the end of 2006--edging ahead of the United States.
The U.K. also had the highest uptake of digital TV of the 12 countries, with 76 percent of households now having digital. The closest rival was the U.S. with 61 percent.
U.K. consumers also get a pretty good deal on these services, with 40 percent of U.K. households buying triple-play bundles costing an average of US$51 (25 pounds) per month. In Germany a typical household paid US$81 (39.77 pounds) last year for the same set of services, while in the U.S. they paid US$142 (69.54 pounds).
Across the 12 countries, mobiles phones accounted for 53 percent of all telecoms revenues and 61 percent of all phone lines, following a trend since 2001 for the number of landlines to decline.
Mobile uptake in the Bric countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) rocketed in that period with 660 million new subscriptions, accounting for 40 percent of the global total.
Tim Ferguson of Silicon.com reported from London.
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