Mobile users keep calls short and sweet
Monday October 06 2008
IT may be the age of mobile phones but we're still cost-conscious when it comes to calls.
People are making it short and sweet when communicating on mobiles and using landlines for longer converstions.
Four minutes and two seconds is the average length of a landline phone call compared to a relatively brief one minute and 35 seconds for a mobile call.
Mobile call costs are falling every year but landlines, which many use for internet services, are still considered cheaper by more people.
A survey found people in Dublin talked the most on landlines with the average duration of a call at four minutes and 17 seconds -- 15 seconds longer than the rest of the country.
When it comes to using mobiles, people keep their chats considerably shorter.
The survey by Eircom and Meteor found people in Monaghan make the longest calls at an average of one minute and 41 seconds. The national average is one minute and 35 seconds.
As tradition would have it, females also beat their male counterparts in terms of the amount of time spent on the blower.
Limerick emerged as the county which makes the most use of modern communications.
Hi-tech residents there were the greatest users of text, talk and internet surfing facilities -- followed by people in Dublin and then Carlow.
Limerick also topped the charts as the most frequent texters and users of broadband, with locals sending an average 8.7 texts per day, well above the national rate of 7.17.
Across all the three main types of ways people communicate, those living in Leitrim, Louth and Donegal are the least frequent users of texts.
- Shane Hickey
