Indian youngsters ''lag behind mobile internet use''

London, Jan 13 (PTI) Indian youngsters seem to beless tech-savvy as they lag behind their global counterpartswhen it comes to mobile internet use, according to a study bymarket researcher Nielsen.

The research on youth and cellphone usage has foundthat less than 10 per cent of young Indians used their mobiledevices to access the web in the last month while 73 per centof Chinese aged between 15 and 24 used mobile internet in thelast 30 days, ''The Independent'' reported.

"Usage patterns vary greatly among youth throughoutthe world, demonstrating how culture, economy and age can allplay a large part in mobile behaviour. These factors affectdevice selection, payment and usage," said Nielsen in itsresearch published on January 11.

The study added: "Indian males aged 15-24 are twiceas likely as their female counterparts to use text messagingand four times more likely to use picture messaging. China andSaudi Arabia also skew male when it comes to messaging, but bya more narrow margin."

According to the study, Chinese youth are the heaviestmobile internet users while youth in the US can''t stop sendingemails. Some 48 per cent of US youth used mobile internet inthe last 30 days as compared to 46 percent of youth in the UK.

Less than one quarter of young people living in otherEuropean countries said they used mobile internet in the last30 days, it found.

Saudi Arabia''s youth downloaded the most ringtones andscreensavers in the last 30 days and 15-24-year-olds in the USwere the most likely to use their phone''s email features. PTIMOT