Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Smartphone ready to fly high globally Sales soar & planes get Wi-fi
The smartphone is going to become even more ubiquitous in daily working life in the coming years with all but a small percentage of the population expected to own one by 2023, according to Belfast advisory firm Deloitte.
Launching its predictions for the technology sector, it said 92% of adults here will have a smartphone by then, a jump from 85% currently, and a move which makes it the most used digital device.
Deloitte said that will contribute to a 19% increase in smartphone sales in the next five years to a staggering 1.85 billion a year.
Partner of the Belfast office Danny Mcconnell said the predictions prove the smartphone is going to become an even more integral part of daily life, particularly in work.
He added: “For half of the UK’S workforce, the smartphone may be the ideal digital tool: its merits are its portability, biometric security and constant connection.
PHASE
“The smartphone will drive much of the next phase of business process reinvention,providing a digital tool for the tens of millions of workers in the UK whose roles are not desk-based.
“The smartphone is a once-ina-generation innovation whose full potential is far from realised.” When it comes to internet accessibility for those smartphones, flying has been one area where only a few airlines were able to provide useable Wi-fi.
Mr Mcconnell, pictured right, said that globally, one billion air passenger journeys – a quarter of all passengers – are expected to be on planes fitted with in-flight connectivity (IFC) later in 2018. That represents a 20% increase from the previous year.
He added: “Newer aircraft and improved telecommunications technology will mean that connectivity will not only improve, but it will also become cheaper and, as a result, IFC is likely to become standard.
“The plane, too, will be connected – and the majority of passengers will be delighted by this and will express their happiness on social networks from 35,000 feet up.”