By 2008, the number of people who have access to the internet via mobile should be higher than the number of people who go online via a home computer.
Mobile set to become prime way to go online
With internet a standard feature on most mobile phones, the number of people who will have access to the internet via a mobile should, by as early as next year (2008), be higher than the number who goes online via a home computer according to New Media Age magazine.
As yet, only 2.1 million British adults claim to have accessed the internet via mobile, which is significantly lower than the 2.7 million people going online via a home computer.
Despite the fact that this functionality exists on many adults’ phones, it doesn’t get used. Around a quarter of those who know that their phone can access the internet will actually use this function. In comparison, 82% of adults with a home computer use it to go online.
Writing in NMA, James Burke says that as the barriers to usage – cost, consumer uncertainty and technological issues like site functionality, screen size and loading speeds – fall, we’d expect to see this market grow rapidly.