A recent ComScore report indicates that mobile Internet usage is booming in the US. The company suggests that the increasing popularity of social networking, web-based news sites and blogging could be responsible for a massive jump in mobile Internet use over the past year.
The research shows that the number of individuals accessing the Web from a cell phone on a daily basis doubled between January of 2008 and January of 2009. In an attempt to explain the massive increase in mobile Web traffic, the report pointed specifically to improvements in several mobile data networks, making mobile Internet use faster and more user-friendly.
The research shows that more than 63 million individuals in the United States used the mobile network on a daily basis, accessing news and other information, as well as downloading music, ringtones, games and other applications. In 2008, mobile Internet use was seen as an occasional phenomenon, but not part of most people’s day-to-day lives. But according to the ComScore report, the tables have certainly turned in 2009, with more people using mobile Internet services as part of their daily routine.
According to analysts, another reason for the increase in mobile Internet use is that wireless networks such as T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon have begun placing more emphasis on these services, and opening up new revenue streams based on mobile Internet use. Wireless provider T-Mobile finally rolled out their long-awaited 3G network, while Verizon and other networks are already planning the next generation of high-speed mobile broadband.
Still another contributing factor is the popularity of smart phones such as the Apple iPhone 3G and the Blackberry Storm. In fact, with hundreds of new Internet ready smartphones appearing over the past 12 months, users were spoiled for choice, and their options for mobile Internet use more than trebled over the past year.
However, critics point out that the US continues to lag behind other nations when it comes to mobile Internet use, especially Northern European and Asian countries. For example, Singapore and Tokyo have had advanced high-speed mobile Internet capability for more than seven years now, even though the same level of technology is just beginning to become widespread in the United States.
Nordic countries such as Finland and Norway have also been far ahead of the US in adopting high-speed mobile Internet networks. Both countries have had relatively high speed mobile access readily available since as far back as 2001. So while the US is certainly catching up quickly these days, we still have a ways to go before we are as mobile Internet savvy as Singapore, Helsinki or Oslo.
