Call Volumes Fall, on Both Fixed and Mobile Networks in U.K.

Overall time spent using voice communications fell by five percent in 2011, Ofcom, the U.K. communications regulator, reports.

“This reflects a 10 percent fall in the volume of calls from landlines, and for the first time, ever, a fall in the volume of mobile calls by just over one percent, in 2011,” Ofcom says.

According to Ofcom, 96 percent users 16 to 24 are using some form of text based application on a daily basis to communicate with friends and family; with 90 percent using texts and nearly three quarters (73 percent) using social networking sites.

By comparison, talking on the phone is less popular among this younger age group, with 67 percent making mobile phone calls on a daily basis, and only 63 percent talking face to face.