Communications habits among Norwegians have once again changed markedly in the past year, and experts link the change to expanding use of social media.
Norwegians for years set records in the amount of text messages (SMS) they sent over the mobile (cell) phones. Norwegians were early to grasp mobile technology, and “texting,” as they call it, exploded late in the 1990s.
New figures from Norway’s communications regulators (Post- og teletilsynet, PT) show that for the first time since text messaging was available in Norway, the number of actual text messages declined by 82 million during the first half of this year.
Norway’s 4.8 million Norwegians still sent a total of more than 4 billion messages from January to June, but the amount per person fell on average from 112 a month to 105, according to PT. The revenue decline for mobile operators amounted to around NOK 50 million.
Permanent phone lines (“landlines”), meanwhile, are all but disappearing. Many Norwegian customers have given up their home phones, choosing to rely only on their mobile phones.
PT director Willy Jensen told news bureau NTB that he thinks use of social media like Facebook and Twitter is responsible for the decline in both home phone use and text messaging.
Views and News staff
