30 lakh Gen Z kids use 3G services, says study

Around 30 lakh Generation Z kids in India-- those born after 1994 -- are using 3G services and children in cities are spending more time on mobile phones than watching TV, a study by a private telecom equipment maker found.

A study by Ericsson said around 30 million out of 69 million urban Generation Z consumers own mobile phones, and 3 million of these use mobile broadband on their phones.

The company's India Vice President and Head for Strategy and marketing Ajay Gupta told reporters here that the study found 7 per cent of Generation Z kids own smartphones, and 20 per cent of kids owning smartphones are below 11 years of age.

He said the findings are based on a study conducted by Ericsson's Consumer lab across more than 7,700 households in 16 cities covering 3,500 children and around 1,000 parents, which could be extrapolated to 69 million Generation Z kids in urban cities. 

The study has found change in behaviour of Generation Z kids, with around 58 per cent of children willing to give up watching TV to use internet on mobile phone, he claimed.

Parent’s attention has been turning to mobile devices along with the children’s growing obsession in order to monitor the kind of content they consume.

"In order to keep up with the generation gap, parents are becoming more savvy in mobile media," Gupta said.

Social media is becoming more important for the Generation Z with 77 per cent venting their frustration on poor service experience over social media which leads them to expect instant resolution of their issues and queries and constant feedback via social media itself.

Only one in three urban parents are able to keep track of their children’s communication activities and expect service providers to offer services in order to monitor their children’s mobile and internet usage.  Seventy-six per cent of the urban parents expect service providers to provide them with call and message log details of their kids – 63 percent of parents are interested in an app to block unwarranted content. Interestingly, 30 percent of 9-18 year olds use a privacy screen to prevent others from seeing their phone, the study claimed.