The mobile phone becomes a real Swiss electronic knife for the French . According to the TNS Sofres annual survey for the French Association of Mobile Operators (AFOM) presented on Thursday, more and more users are using their mobile to surf the Internet, consult the time, take pictures, listen to music and even use it as a flashlight . A large majority find that the mobile makes everyday life easier.

According to this fifth Mobile Social Observatory, 79% of French people aged 12 and over are equipped in 2009 with a personal or professional mobile phone . A rate that remains stable compared to last year.

One person in ten does not have a fixed line and only uses his mobile to make calls. In addition, the share of the active population with a professional mobility is 21%.

The mobile phone has established itself as a real object to do everything and convenient. Indeed, 83% of users believe that the mobile phone makes their daily life easier, two out of three think it makes their lives freer, and 55% that it makes it more enjoyable.

Most mobile phones are used to telephone (99%), but 30% of French people use it as a music player, 23% play or surf the Internet, 62% take photos, 77% send SMS, 31% to make videos, and 41% even use it as a flashlight .

These rates are higher among young people (12-24 years) : 68% listen to music on their mobiles, 41% surf the Internet (compared to 34% in 2008) and 54% use it as a small game console.

Nearly one out of four (23%) mobile equipment is also a "mobinaute", that is to say, it connects to the mobile Internet network via their mobile phone . In detail, 59% surf the web via their mobile when they are at home, compared with 35% who connect in a café or restaurant and 32% in public transport. 38% connect in the street, and 35% entrust it to their workplace or classroom during classes.

When asked about mobile phones and health, 36% of French people think that mobile phones are dangerous for health , compared with only 29% in June 2008. One in four Frenchmen joins the health authorities that there is no evidence of a danger, but that there is not enough backwardness yet. Nearly one-third (32%) are also uncertain about the relay antennas, "because scientists say that antennas are dangerous and others say they are not."

Overall, 82% of French people consider mobile to be a good thing for society , compared with 87% in 2008. This decline is due, according to TNS, to the deterioration of the opinion of unqualified people. The latter think 57% that the mobile is a good thing, against 71% in 2008. 89% to think about the equipped people (against 87% in 2008).

On the other hand, 58% of the French consider that the mobile is a bad thing for the 81% of the teenagers who possess a cell phone. This opinion is not shared by the interested parties since 91% of 12-17 year olds believe otherwise.

The Mobile Social Observatory was conducted from 28 August to 1 September with a sample of 1,200 people representative of the entire population aged 12 and over.