A survey by EE has found 43 per cent of its LTE subscribers are using fewer or no public Wi-Fi hotspots since adopting the high-speed 4G technology.

The proportion of LTE users cutting their Wi-Fi usage has increased from 37 per cent since April, according to the operator’s first 4GEE Mobile Living Index.

Given LTE’s speeds, a reduction in Wi-Fi take-up is perhaps unsurprisingly but if the trend continues then it could have implications for operators’ offload strategies.

Another interesting finding is the change in the balance in the sexes among EE’s user base, which has seen a dramatic shift since the service’s launch in October 2012.

Formerly overwhelmingly male, the take-up is now edging towards equality. While 58 per cent of the operator’s LTE subscribers are men, 42 per cent are female. Formerly, the gender balance was 74 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively (November 2012 figure).

The research also contrasts 3G vs 4G usage. Activity on the older network tends to be web browsing but on 4G customers reproduce traditional fixed broadband activities such as shopping, watching films and TV. A quarter of customers spend more than three hours a day on the mobile network.

Another finding is that social media has become increasingly mobile. EE found at major events such as the London Marathon and Baroness Thatcher’s funeral that the amount of data uploaded was greater than the downloads. The operator predicts data volumes over social media sites will grow tenfold by 2015.