In the UK, 46% of people already have a smartphone and are on the internet full-time. This year other countries have also proven that the internet is a ubiquitous and useful tool.

The use of social media during the Arab Spring has proven that internet connections are available all over the world. 2011 will be remembered as the social networking year not just because of Facebook, Twitter or Google+ users in rich countries, but precisely because the internet helped to start revolutions in places where a few years ago it wasn’t so common for people to access internet.  These locations include Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, for instance. 

If the Arab Spring shows interesting things about how even conservative countries are using the internet, recent numbers show that European countries and the US are far ahead in important digital statistics. Look at the example of the UK: in the most digitally aware country in Europe, people spend 746 minutes online every week, according to a study develop by Ofcom, the regulatory authority for telecommunications in UK.  It’s impossible to compare the UK’s average internet use with any other country in the world, except the US, which holds the first position in the global ranking. The British are also buying a lot of things online, increasing global ecommerce. Consumers there spend 84 minutes per month buying products on the internet.

Ofcom’s research also says that many British are using smartphones – high-tech cell phones that work as computers and allow internet access from anywhere. Almost 46% of mobiles subscribers this year in the UK’s market are from this kind of device.

 If you think that the British are using the internet instead of doing more traditional activities such as watching TV, for instance, you couldn’t’ be more wrong. An article published this week in The Guardian reveals that “the UK is officially Europe's most screen-addicted nation.” TV is still present in 97% of households in Britain, and today many have other ways to watch it – the study says that in the UK, 27% of people are watching TV online at least once a week.

The UK’s numbers show that soon other countries – those which in the past 12 months witnessed the Arab Spring - will increase their presence online.  These countries will follow the UK’s example and makethe world an even more connected place.