Pinoys On Mobile Phone Nearly Entire Day – Study

A majority of Filipinos spend nearly the entire day using their mobile phones, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to engage in learning and do their work through digital platforms.

A survey by multinational telecommunications company Telenor recently reported that Filipinos tend to spend some 90 percent of their day using their mobile phones for various purposes, mostly for productive activities.

Across eight Asian markets, digital dependence stood out to be at the highest in the Philippines at 29 percent, while it was lowest in Vietnam at nine percent, according to the survey.

“Respondents in the Philippines are heavy users of mobile phone. They are most likely to spend at least 90 percent of the day with their mobile phones at 53 percent compared to a 41-percent average across all markets,” Telenor said.

The survey also revealed that most Filipinos believe that using their mobile phones benefit their learning at 90 percent as well as their work at 93 percent.

Mobile usage for social networking also reached 70 percent in the country, exceeding the regional average of 54 percent.

The study reported, however, that four in every five Filipinos are concerned with data privacy and mobile security compared with the Asian average of 58 percent.

On a regional scale, 94 percent of Asians said they spend at least half of their day using mobile phones for various activities they undertake every day.

The survey added that 74 percent of the respondents expect to increase their mobile usage within the next 24 months, particularly in Thailand with 82 percent and Vietnam with 81 percent.

Telenor said mobile usage in Asia more than doubled in most economies compared with usage before the pandemic.

On its own, the firm saw that digital utilization among its 165 million customers in the continent grew by 60 percent during the crisis.

As such, the Norwegian firm said public and private sectors in Asian countries should focus on expanding their digital infrastructure.

For these investments to materialize, the firm said business environments should be made fair and transparent, supported by consultative and collaborative regulatory procedures.

“Meeting the future needs will require resilient and future-ready networks to keep pace with the technological advances,” Telenor said.

Telenor’s survey gathered insights from over 8,000 mobile users in eight markets in South Asia and Southeast Asia – Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.