Mobile internet proves popular with men

Men are far more likely to surf the web on their mobile phone handsets than women, according to a new study.

Research conducted by Opera Software shows that 88.1 per cent of people using mobile internet are male, with the majority of aged between 18 and 27 years old.

Jon von Tetzchner, chief executive of the firm, claimed that this imbalanced user base will become a thing of the past once mobile broadband take up accelerates in the future.

He added: "Because accessing the web on mobile devices will become more pervasive than accessing the web with computers, we expect that over time one gender or one age range will not dominate."

Recent research by independent wireless engineering company LCC International found that Vodafone offers a faster mobile broadband service than that offered by rival networks.

Customers signed up to Vodafone's 1.2 Mbps packages can download a 2MB file up to 77 per cent quicker than comparable services with other operators and open web pages 278 per cent faster.