Britons use smart devices for longer than they sleep

British people spend more time glued to screens than they do sleeping, according to the annual report on the nation’s communications habits by Ofcom.

The regulator found that average television viewing has dropped below four hours a day for the first time since 2009. Ofcom found that people using several devices at the same time -- for example, making calls while surfing the Internet on a tablet -- meant that total use of media and communications averaged more than 11 hours a day so far in 2014.

This was an increase of more than two hours since the regulator conducted equivalent research in 2010 and reflects a sharp increase in Internet use on the move as mobile data networks have improved.