• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, March 31, 2020

Consumers homebound due to COVID-19 are taking a big turn toward mobile technology.

This means they’re spending more time on the phone, whether speaking, texting or using video.

One report showed that videoconferencing app downloads are through the roof.

That report, by App Annie, found that Zoom Meetings downloads alone reached 14 times the weekly average in the U.S.

Now the latest tracking by AT&T shows that new patterns are emerging, all of which show heavy mobile usage.

Over the last three weeks, instant messaging is up 63%, test messaging 41% and voice calls 33%.

Increasing 4%, video now accounts for more than half of all mobile traffic.

Consumers are spending significantly more time communicating with others.

For example, AT&T’s audio, web and video conference minutes increased 400% and global audio conferencing is up 200%.

Interestingly, as mobile usage surges, email is down 18% and web browsing is down 5%.

Mobile usage already was high, but not this high.