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Voice calling is also up 45 per cent as lockdown influences change in how consumers user their mobiles
EE data has revealed that usage of apps primarily designed for communication has grown significantly during the lockdown.
The operator’s Mobile Network data report found there was a 45 per cent increase in the usage of these apps.
This data, which was recorded between February and May, revealed apps such as WhatsApp, HouseParty, Skype and Teams grew substantially.
While EE said that Zoom has grown its user base by five times the amount of users it had prior to the lockdown.
Voice call usage has also increased 45 per cent as more people make phone calls rather than send messages.
BT Consumer Division CEO Marc Allera said: “Lockdown has clearly driven huge changes in the way our mobile network is being used.
“It’s also interesting to see how Network traffic is visibly shifting from cities to suburban areas. Fitness apps are seeing big spikes in data usage as we exercise outside more and online supermarket orders spiked massively in the early stages, and are now returning to a new ‘normal’.”
Suburban shift
EE also found that suburban areas are using more data as people stay closer to home, while cities are decreasing.
Stevenage has seen a rise of 120pc in data usage for communication apps, while Central London has dropped 58pc, with most of the city closed for business.
The operator also examined fitness apps and found that Fitbit usage has also suffered a decline.
This is down to the overall movement of people in the UK being down, especially with much less people committing into work.
However the Strava fitness app has seen data usage and user counts triple since the start of the lockdown.