A new report released by Ericsson ConsumerLab has revealed about 82% of people in Nigeria are currently using mobile phones to access the internet.

The report titled Internet Goes Mobile showed mobile phones are the most popular device to access the internet in Nigeria.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission out of the country’s 142 million active telephone subscriptions, 83 million are being used to access the internet as at the end of February 2015.

Commenting on the latest report in Lagos, Nigeria head of Ericsson's sub-Saharan Africa region, Fredrik Jejdling, said the significant use of mobile broadband on mobile phones, PCs and tablets provides consumers with more mobility, further allowing them to remain connected and updated wherever they are.

“Internet users in Nigeria mostly perform online activities on their mobile phones. 94% of consumers use social network sites and 93% browse the internet on their mobile phones,” he said.

The report also revealed that 45% of the population use laptops/desktops, while tablets provide internet access for 44% of Nigerians.

Jejdling also noted that more online activities are carried out on mobile phones than on laptops and tablets.

"Only 44% of consumers use social network sites and 50% browse the internet on their PCs", he said.

The study also showed Nigerians are interested in a greatly connected future such as connected homes and cars, social discovery, multi screening and P2P sharing.

“70% of consumers are interested in having homes and cars that are connected to internet. The high level of interest in staying connected constantly highlights the fact that Nigerian consumers would like to lead a more networked life,” Jejdling said.

"Irrespective of their location, users want to remain connected with messaging and calling, updated with browsing and social networking and have access to entertainment. Users expect good services, wherever they are," the report noted.

Ericsson said it selected participants involved in the survey via random sampling in some of Nigeria’s major cities such as Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Abuja.

The report suggested that the availability of good network and voice quality drives up consumer satisfaction… 56% of mobile phone users are satisfied with data speed and voice connection quality, over 50% of those who switch between Wi-Fi and mobile broadband do so when they change locations or the availability of connections.