People tend to switch off while on holiday due to a lack of internet access, but this is set to change with all UK phone networks required to offer ‘roam like at home’ services.

According to a survey of more than 2,500 people, UK mobile network GiffGaff found that 68 per cent of participants don’t regularly update their social media channels while aboard. Furthermore, 62 per cent said they had to spend time trying to find a local wi-fi hotspot, while the remaining 38 per cent do not attempt to look at all.

The majority of mobiles users under the age of 45 use their data to predominantly research local attractions, but 38 per cent said their mobile is most useful for photos and videos.

Despite the stats suggesting that the UK population care little about using data or wi-fi abroad, GiffGaff found earlier this year that global mobile data usage is set to increase by 720 per cent over the next four years. In addition, despite 52 per cent of Brits using less than 1GB of data while abroad, it is expected that ‘roam like at home’ will boost usage.

“With the new roam like at home feature, we are expecting to see a substantial increase in the amount of mobile data our members will use outside of the UK. While data usage is definitely on the increase, people are often limited in how much they can access the internet on their mobiles when abroad,” said Victoria Tagg, head of search at GiffGaff.

“This is a revolutionary time for mobile browsing. Holidaymakers can now enjoy the choice of browsing the web if they wish, which will hopefully benefit businesses abroad, who can now be searched for more easily by tourists, as well as the mobile users themselves.”