The digital divide between younger and older Australian would be felt in how they would send their Christmas greetings to loved ones and friends.

A survey by telecom giant Optus found the 36 per cent of Aussies plan to send their Yuletide greetings using social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

However, while 50 per cent of Generation Y members would use the social media portals, 75 per cent of Baby Boomers, who are mostly parents of Gen Ys, would use the phone to chat this Christmas.

Ahead of Dec 25, Optus forecast that telephone lines will be jammed as more than 34 million calls would be made by Aussies on their mobile phones and another 32 million local and international calls on their home phones. They are expected to spend an average of 4.5 minutes on the phone, which would send phone bills soaring in January 2012.

The bulk of the calls to be made by Aussies would be to the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Vietnam.

For the tech savvy generation, they are expected to send over 65 million text messages on Christmas Day.

"Whether they're posting on Facebook or calling to say Merry Christmas, our customers can be confident that we have been working hard throughout the year to ensure our network is capable of providing optimum coverage, with upgrades to many popular holiday destinations around Australia in preparation for the holiday season," Optus General Manager for Government and Corporate Affairs Clare Gill said in a statement.

In preparation for the upsurge in phone usage during the yearend holidays, Optus performed capacity upgrades in known holiday hotspots such as Arlie Beach, Ballina, Byron Bay, Cairns, Hervey Bay, Philip Island, Port Douglas, Port Stephens, Surfers Paradise and Victor Harbour. From January to June, the company put in place more than 450 new 3G mobile base stations to enhance coverage across the Optus network.

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