Research from UK-based communications regulator Ofcom has shown that, for the first time, UK residents are more likely to text than call.

The research, from Ofcom’s annual ‘Communications Market Report’, published on Wednesday, showed that 58% of UK residents texted every day, compared to just 47% who made a daily phone call.

The figures for call usage on both fixed and mobile phones were down for the first time, potentially signifying an important trend.

Not altogether unsurprisingly, this increase is being led by the vital 16-24 demographic, with Ofcom noting that the teenage and young adult market is “increasingly socialising with family and friends online and through text messages despite saying they prefer to talk face to face”.

Britons on average send approximately 50 texts per week – double the figure from four years ago.

This rise in texting correlates with increased smartphone adoption in Britain. 39% of adults now own a smartphone in the UK, a 12% rise on 2010’s figures. Of that 39%, nearly half say that their smartphone is the most important method of accessing the internet.

This has led to an intriguing trend in the retail sector, with the rise of the “robo [research offline, buy online] shopper”.

Ofcom director of research James Thickett said: “Our research reveals that in just a few short years, new technology has fundamentally changed the way that we communicate”.

“Talking face to face or on the phone are no longer the most common ways for us to interact with each other,” he added.

Will ‘turfing’ be the new buzzword for Smart TV usage?

The Ofcom report also noted some interesting statistics concerning the usage of Smart TV.

5% of UK homes own a Smart TV, with the average UK household owning three internet-compatible devices, from laptops, to games consoles and – increasingly – TVs.

Ofcom used the term ‘turfing’ to describe IPTV users who watch TV and surf the internet simultaneously.

But do you think the term will catch fire and become widespread? Let us know in the comments section.

Is this in line with worldwide trends?

Does this research give more credence to the idea that texting is becoming the default mode of communication?

An American study last year revealed that nearly a third of all US adults prefer to be reached by text as opposed to phone.  

Specifically, 31% of American phone users preferred to text according to the study, with 51% preferring to call and 14% saying it “depended on the situation”.

Evidently from looking at these figures, text usage is clearly on the up and up, as is smartphone usage: a report from comScore in April showed that 107 million Americans now own a smartphone, a figure which has gone up 6% since the beginning of the year.

Another US-based study showed the sheer number of texts sent per day. Of the 72% of US cell phone users who text, a quarter send and receive between 11 and 50 texts per day. 4% of US texters send and receive a staggering 200 plus texts per day – or 6000 each month.

The OnlineCollegeCourses.com study also showed the various benefits text messaging has.

This ranged from the Center of Connected Health texting people reminding them to apply suncream with adherence rates almost doubling, to even potentially helping patients with depression by texting updates reminding patients to track their moods. Three quarters of those texted wanted to continue receiving the updates after the study had ended.

Text messaging benefits included its immediacy and ubiquity, relative lack of expense, and using few resources, said the study.

Do you agree that the benefits of texting outweight the benefits of calling, and that increased smartphone usage with QWERTY keyboards and/or more intuitive touch-screen has made the texting experience easier, accelerating the overtake of text as the default method of communication for mobile users?

Which provides better opportunities for mobile service providers, text or phone, and why?