THESE CALL AND TEXT THE MOST

This is revealed in a press release from Telenor Norway, based on figures they extracted in December 2025 for actual use in their Norwegian mobile network. The rest of the figures in this article are based on findings Telenor made this month. The figures are compiled and summarised at an overall level, according to Telenor, without individuals being identifiable.

Women make the most calls, especially in the 30-50 age group, while men maintain the highest level as young adults. In old age, women's call length increases, and men's decreases.

Women are the most eager users of text messages (SMS). On average, women send 67 SMS messages a month, and men send 41. The difference applies to almost all age groups and begins as early as primary school, where girls send twice as many messages as boys.

Men use on average 60 percent more mobile data than women. Boys pull ahead in their teens and have higher data usage than women for the rest of their lives.

THREE MORE CALLS

- In December, women made on average three more calls than men. At the same time, the calling pattern varies with age. Young women (18-30 years) make significantly fewer calls than men of the same age, but in the age group 30 to 50 years, the pattern is reversed. In this age group, women make more calls than men, which is probably related to the coordination of family life, says Rikke Klonteig Nielsen in the press release.

She leads the Mobile private market at Telenor.

Older women maintain a high call volume until their 90s, while men's calling activity drops significantly after they pass 70.

When it comes to call length, men maintain a consistently high level from their 20s until around 60 years old. Beyond this age, women have longer calls, while men's call duration becomes shorter.

SUPERIOR IN SMS

According to the press release, the SMS differences between the genders are among the clearest findings in Telenor's data. The difference applies to almost all age groups and starts very early. Girls of primary school age send twice as many SMS as boys. Among adults, SMS usage is highest for both genders from 35 to 55 years old, but women clearly send the most messages at all ages.

Men use significantly more mobile data, and they pull ahead already in their teens. In what is often called the social media age, there is little difference. Boys and girls use about the same amount of data until they are around 14 years old. After this, boys' data usage increases rapidly and remains higher throughout their lives.

COORDINATED CHRISTMAS

Among the elderly, the difference is particularly noticeable, with men using more data than women, but both groups are significantly below the national average.

While the figures are otherwise consistent over time, Telenor notes a change in calling patterns compared to late summer last year. Back then, men were at the top of the calling list.

- A hypothesis for why we see a different trend now than in late summer is that women still handle a large part of the coordination during Christmas, and that the phone was used more in December. At the same time, it is likely that women use social media as a voice channel more extensively than men. We have reason to believe that especially young women chat more and share voice or video messages with friends, says Klonteig Nielsen in the press release.

Telenor Norge AS is part of the Telenor Group, which operates in the Nordics and Asia. The headquarters are located at Fornebu in Bærum, and the company has 3,300 employees spread across around 20 offices in Norway. Telenor's mobile network in Norway is covered by 8,900 base stations.