The use of mobile internet in Europe is being powered by an increasing uptake of social networking, according to a new survey.

It emerged from comScore figures that 34 per cent of mobile phone owners in the western states of Europe who used social networking websites were visiting such social media websites exclusive of other mobile web content on offer.

The most notable period of growth in the industry was recorded between the Novembers of 2007 and 2008, where the sector expanded by 125 per cent.

Mobile social networking is now used by 12.1 million people across the continent, the company added.

The UK accounts for the highest percentage of mobile social networking in the content, with a nine per cent market share.

Analyst at comScore M:Metrics Alistair Hill stated that mobile internet was increasingly becoming mainstream as a result of the popularity of social media.

He continued: "This development is encouraging for the future of the mobile internet."

Despite this, media relations manager at William Hill Graham Sharpe said that mobile technology was still limiting growth due to hardware and software capabilities, which had resulted in the sluggish uptake of mobile gaming.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were guaranteed response times and allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues.