China leads mobile internet usage - UK lags behind

New research has shown that China is a world leader when it comes to the mobile internet.

The research shows that just 57 percent of British people used their mobiles to access the internet. [Photo:VCG]

I'm not especially old, although my bald patch seems to grow by the day. Nevertheless, some of my friends (many of whom are in their early twenties) are amazed when I tell them that I can remember the very first day of the mobile internet - or at least, the very first day it was launched in the UK.

A group of five or six of us gathered around a tiny, black an white screen, and waited a full minute to read some football results that we could have accessed much more easily on a desktop computer.

It's astonishing to think that just 17 years later, many countries now see more than half of all internet usage originated from mobile phones.

New research has shown China to be the global leader in this regard. Apparently, 77 percent of Chinese internet access comes from mobile.

This reflects both the advanced state of the Chinese mobile telephone networks and a very high uptake of smart devices amongst Chinese people.

In the UK, however, people are much more tied to old-fashioned computers.

The research showed that just 57 percent of British people used their mobiles to access the internet, which is some 13 percent behind the global average.