9 minute read
Share
Download full report PDF
Survey Findings (Infographics) PDF
Read the press release
From virtual worlds to real-life communities, mobile access has flipped how we spend our downtime on its head.
The third instalment in our Digital Lives Decoded series examines the changing spectrum of people's leisure-time pursuits and pastimes - supercharged by a more digitally-savvy, post-pandemic population.
Two-thirds of people socialise more online than they do in real life, but rather than this being a negative trend, more than half of our respondents feel more socially connected.
People are convincingly upbeat about mobile's impact on their social lives, helping them stay better connected with loved ones and build virtual communities with strangers based on shared interests. People also spend much of their downtime tapping into online education or on-the-go learning apps. Close to one-third access educational apps daily, while four in ten believe the learning enabled by mobile technology has significantly improved their lives.
The standout finding from this report is around gaming. Mobile access has changed how people game and who gamers are. Thanks to the mobile, gaming has become a mass phenomenon, embedding virtual interactions and virtual worlds into daily life. This pastime is more inclusive and accessible than ever, reaching across genders and generations. The increased number of people playing games is also driven by a relatively recent phenomenon: social gaming. Close to half of those surveyed expect to spend even more time on this in the next two years.
We see that gaming is positively impacting real-life communities, reinforcing relationships and transforming how we go about daily tasks. With that growth comes higher expectations of network operators as people seek more dependable, faster networks. Consumers recognise that this comes at a premium.
The metaverse has enormous potential as a gaming platform of the future. While it is yet to capture the interests of consumers fully, people do recognise that their mobile phones have put a portal to the future in their hands as the metaverse slowly edges towards reality. The growing interest in the metaverse is creating an opportunity for telecom operators to expand beyond the traditional towards new capabilities and services - becoming not only an enabler of the technology through the provision of 5G capabilities but also a co-creator in the metaverse.
With all the new possibilities paved by the mobile, the average mobile user today literally has the world at his or her fingertips. Moving from passive users to active co-creators in virtual realities, they will become the new face of the customer that we as network operators and businesses need to understand and keep up with. We hope the third part of our study will help to shed some light on the changing face of today's consumers as they live, work and play.
Jorgen C. Arentz Rostrup
Head of Telenor Asia
Overview Digital Lives Decoded is a three-part series - released in conjunction with Telenor's 25th anniversary in Asia - looking at the role of mobile relationships in how we live, work, and play. The third and concluding instalment surveyed over 8,000 consumers across eight markets in South and Southeast Asia on the impact mobile devices are having on the way we spend our downtime.
Consumers in Asia are turning to mobile devices to boost their leisure time, switching downtime pursuits into up-time' opportunities. Nine in ten people are more dependent on their phone for leisure now than two years ago and nearly half (47%) say their reliance has increased significantly.
The habits we formed during the pandemic seem to have become hard-wired in the way we live our lives today. Two-thirds (66%) say they now socialise more online than in real life and over half now feel more connected to friends and family. While younger generations are spending more time socialising online than their older peers, Baby Boomers feel most connected to their loved ones as a result of mobile technology.
Around half of respondents spend more than three hours a day using social media, and just over one in ten (12%) spend more than seven hours per day. This is greater than the time spent on gaming, streaming content, listening to music or podcasts and investing, and looks set to grow.
The new face of gaming is mobile Across the region, China, Japan, and South Korea lead the gaming market, but Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand are quickly catching up. This surge in gaming is evident among respondents surveyed. Four out of five respondents play mobile games in some way, with close to a third (31%) playing every single day. And it's not just the stereotypes of young men playing; our research shows that there is an even split among men and women.
Just as social media has allowed communities to create content and interact with each other, we have also seen the growth in social gaming taking these opportunities one step further - empowering people to step into and interact with others in virtual worlds.
Mobile devices are turning downtime pursuits into upside opportunities Respondents across the region are increasingly looking to their mobile devices for personal upskilling and development. 40% of respondents are using mobile devices to tap into learning and educational apps or websites, with women and younger generations most likely to experience the benefits. More than half of Gen-Zs (51%) surveyed said that learning on their mobile has significantly improved their quality of life.
Europe Stories
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
25/11/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, an investigative journalist from Kenya is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2025.
The 26-year-old-sele...
25/11/2025
The best playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks bring a little extra magic to your daily routine. With new features and offerings, Spotify Premium delivers even mo...
25/11/2025
Comprehensive new research confirms what we already knew: Australian music fans love the quality, quantity, and access they have to new and local music on strea...
25/11/2025
Applicable Products
Objectives The purpose of this application note is to give a brief background on 5G (NR) wireless communication an explain the reason a SN...
25/11/2025
25. November 2025 Cecilia Pierron
Last week, we took part in OnDAM 2025, an educational conference fully dedicated to DAM, hosted by Activo Consulting. The ...
25/11/2025
25 Nov 2025
VEON's QazCode and MeetKai Sign Agreement to Power National LLM...
25/11/2025
UKTV has acquired a high-profile slate of US dramas from Paramount Global Conten...
25/11/2025
A symphony of genius, rivalry and vengeance, boldly reimagined from Peter Shaffe...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Cinematography World
Read the article
FilmLight has finalised the prestigious 2025 FilmLight Colour Awards jury and welcomed award-winning...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Prensario
Read the article
La serie fue dirigida por Juli n de Tavira, Rodrigo Santos, y David Leche Ruiz, con direcci n de fotograf a a...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
Read the article
The awards, celebr...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Televisual
Read the article
Already live in Los Angeles and rolling out in New York and London, Nara gives producers, colourists, conform ...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Digital Media World
Read the article
ARTONE post-house in Tokyo is the first facility in Japan to integrate Baselight M, choosing its prec...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter
Read the article
Once hidden in post-production suites, the artists who make movies and TV shows look the way they ...
25/11/2025
Article courtesy of Deadline
Read the article
The Brutalist' & Bad Bunny's Nuevayol' Music Video Among 2025 FilmLight Colour Award Winners - Cam...
24/11/2025
Robyn made her long-awaited return to the stage this week, as Spotify and Acne Studios brought friends and top fans together for an unforgettable evening at the...
24/11/2025
After more than two years of redevelopment, FC Barcelona returned to its spiritual home on November 22, hosting Athletic Club in the first La Liga match at the ...
24/11/2025
24 Nov 2025
Kyivstar Launches Starlink Direct to Cell Satellite Connectivity in Ukraine Today's Launch Makes Ukraine the First Country in Europe Where Star...
24/11/2025
Ahead of the new ninth series of Dancing with the Stars, kicking off in January 2026, RT and Shinawil have announced the arrival of three new faces to the hit ...
21/11/2025
Fans have been counting down the days until the final theatrical chapter of Wicked is revealed. To celebrate the highly anticipated release of Wicked: For Good ...
21/11/2025
Last week, Spotify turned up the volume in Seoul with the return of Spotify Hous...
21/11/2025
Wiesbaden, November 21, 2025. The SGL Carbon site in Meitingen has reason to celebrate as one of its trainees received a special award. Elias Stemmer was honore...
21/11/2025
Sky Media's £2m award-winning sustainability initiative crowns its first charity as this year's standout changemakerFriday 21 November 2025
GoodGym nam...
21/11/2025
As COP30 draws to a close, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), ...
20/11/2025
Your playlists are personal. They're the soundtracks to your road trips, your quiet mornings, and your biggest celebrations; collections of memories and dis...
20/11/2025
Spotify, uzun s redir zerine al t T rk m zik k lt r n n ikon haline gelmi ...
20/11/2025
For the first time, Spotify has teamed up with The Hollywood Reporter to cohost ...
20/11/2025
This year's ARIA Awards marked a turning point for Australian music, and Spotify was right at the heart of it. For the first time in the awards' nearly ...
20/11/2025
15 March 2012
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Cinegy and Vericom are pleased to announce the recent deployment of Cinegy Archive for production and as...
20/11/2025
6 September 2012
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
FIC Turkey supplies media content to Pay TV under Fox TV Channel brands in Turkey.
At the start of s...
20/11/2025
25 June 2014
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Last month VIVA finalized its Cinegy installation in order to produce and broadcast the World Cup Brazil ...
20/11/2025
1 October 2014
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
With 5 locations spread out around Baden-W rttemberg, Schw bisch Media required a scalable end to end s...
20/11/2025
27 April 2015
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Cinegy, which develops and produces media asset management products that are used in flagship production...
20/11/2025
12 August 2015
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 26 October 2015 - Cinegy, which develops and produces software technology for digital ...
20/11/2025
5 November 2015
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany 3 November 2015 - Cinegy, which develops and produces software technology for digital ...
9 minute read 
