Texts overtake calls as way to stay in touch Mobile phone conversations dropped last year after a long period of growing popularity, but the use of text messages has continued to increase. The average adult sends 200 texts a month, Ofcom's Communications Market Report found, more than double that of four years ago. More than half of adults say they use text messages at least once a day to communicate with family and friends, while only 49 per cent meet people face to face on such a regular basis. Forty-seven per cent speak to close relations or friends on a mobile phone every day. The time spent talking on a mobile phone is down for the first time, from 125 billion minutes in 2010 to 124 billion last year, while calls made on landlines ­continued to drop - by a further 10 per cent.