Smartphones and Facebook helped to drive a massive 500% surge in New Year's Eve handset data in just 12-months, according to Hutchison 3G UK.

The amount of data Three's smartphone customers used on New Year's Eve leapt from 14 terabytes (TBs) in 2010 to 80TBs in 2011. The trend continued through New Year's Day, with 74TBs used compared to 14TBs the year before.

Facebook was one of the most popular services as people rung in the New Year, with a 20% jump in traffic between midnight and 1am.

Three expects smartphone adoption among customers to reach almost 100% this year, as more and more people realise their capabilities.

Traditional mobile traffic grew too, but this growth was hugely outstripped by data. SMS levels grew from 36m on New Year's Eve 2010, to 46m this year, while calls went from 19m last year to 21m.

Three's Marketing Director Thomas Malleschitz, said: "It's a phenomenal amount of growth and shows just how much smartphones are changing the way our customers communicate. This kind of demand vindicates Three's focus on building a network designed for the internet.