Indians among highest consumers of digital gadgets in U.K.

London, Sept 16 (PTI) The Indian community in Britain has
been listed among the highest consumers of digital
communication devices such as mobile phones, television and
the Internet owing to their high spending power.

Research by regulator Ofcom shows that Indians are in the
forefront of digital communications in Britain, with people of
the community under the age of 45 more likely to own a mobile
phone, and access digital television and the Internet.

The research, conducted by Ofcom's media literacy unit
reveals that along with Indians, Black Caribbeans, Black
Africans and people of Pakistani origin have a higher
consumption of digital communications than the British
population as a whole.

Indian, Pakistani and Black African adults are far more
likely to live in households with multiple device access
(digital TV, mobile phone and Internet) - ranging from 62
percent to 65 percent, in contrast to 53 percent of the U.K.
population.

Adults from ethnic minority groups are more likely to be
interested in and confident about using specific interactive
functions on digital devices than the general U.K. population,
the research found.

Indians and Pakistanis in Britain spend more time online
than any other adults in the U.K. -- 13.5 hours per week
compared to the U.K. average of 12.1 hours, the research
shows.

Concerns about television, mobile phones, gaming and
radio are higher among ethnic minority groups in the U.K. than
in the British population in general. Between 60 and 73
percent of ethnic minority groups have concerns about TV
compared to 55 percent of U.K. adults, Ofcom said.

The higher levels of concerns about TV is driven by
higher mentions about offensive content.