Number of people using mobile broadband in the UK has jumped over the last one-year period, figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) claims.

According to the ONS, 45 per cent of online consumers made use of a mobile device, like a smartphone, laptop or palmtop, to surf the Internet over that past one year. The figure is up from the 40 per cent recorded in the previous year.

Official figures also show that there are now around 38 million internet users in the country. The figure represents 77 per cent of the adult population in the country.

Commenting on the topic, the ONS said, “The use of Wi-Fi hotspots continued to rise with 2.7 million people using wireless hotspots at locations such as cafes, restaurants, and hotels.”

Slightly less than a fifth of adults in the country had never used the Internet at all, a figure which has also slipped over the last year.

However, as many as 9.2 million British adults have never been online. Statistics claim that those adults who never used the Internet in their lives mainly consist of people aged above 65, widows and people with low income. But, overall broadband usage has increased.

Earlier, ABI Research had found that broadband providers in the UK, including Virgin Media, Orange and T-Mobile alongside providers from Indonesia and France, offer some of the most competitive mobile broadband packages in the world.