Men spend a third more time chatting on mobile phones than women, according to an ongoing study into mobile phone use.

The study, now in its fifth year, found men use their phones 35 per cent more than women, spending 571 minutes a month talking on their mobiles, compared to an average of 424 wireless minutes a month for women. When the survey first started in 2000, men were only using their mobiles 16 per cent more than women, but the gap has grown year on year.

"The results are undisputable and, after five consecutive years, men are definitely the top wireless talkers," said Jennifer Bowcock, director of consumer media relations at Cingular Wireless, which carries out the research each year.

"Overall, wireless usage is quickly growing for both men and women, becoming a part of our everyday lives."

The study showed that the main reason for the male lead is the use of mobile phones as business tools, with twice as many men as women using mobiles for work. In contrast, 82 per cent of women use their wireless phones to talk to friends and family, versus only 62 per cent of men.

The lead is reversed, however, for phone use at home, with women spending 491 minutes each month versus the 321 minutes per month that men use. But men are catching up.

Women also lead in the use of camera phones, with a quarter of those surveyed owning one, compared to 21 per cent of men. They also use them more frequently, with 60 per cent of women taking pictures regularly, as opposed to only 40 per cent of men.