Mobile Internet & Mobile Email
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Mobile Internet & Email
Mobile Internet access is the ability to surf the Internet by using a mobile handset’s built-in Web browser or by tethering a device to a personal computer as a modem. These services have recently seen increased adoption by consumers as carriers have rolled out flat-rate pricing models for their data plans. For carriers, this adoption has allowed them to make up revenues that have been lost as traditional voice prices have dropped due to competition and the ability to provide voice services at lower costs.
Also helping to propel adoption is the continued rollout of higher-speed wireless data network technologies, such as EDGE, UMTS and HSPA. UMTS-HSPA provides a similar browsing experience to that of a wired connection.
Mobile Internet browsing from a wireless handset has seen rapid growth as device manufacturers have begun launching models with larger screens and improved user interface. Software companies have also contributed to this growth by providing browsers that take into account a mobile device’s smaller screen and limited system memory compared to a personal computer.
Findings from a 2009 study conducted by Mobile Market View, which measured the activities consumers performed using their mobile devices, indicated a growth rate of mobile Internet users that was in line with The Kelsey Group’s U.S. Mobile Advertising Forecast: 2007-2012 (September 2007), which projected Mobile Internet users would grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19 percent through 2012. According to the latest Mobile Market View findings, the percentage of mobile users who accessed the Internet from their mobile devices increased from 32.4 percent in 2007 to 38.9 percent in 2008 – an annual growth rate of 20 percent.
Matt Booth, senior vice president and program director of Interactive Local Media for The Kelsey Group, noted that, “We believe the introduction of more user-friendly smartphones is ushering in a new mobile paradigm where devices now offer an Internet experience that is as easy as traditional voice connectivity. The implication is that users will increasingly turn to their smartphones for local commercial and social search experiences and the data certainly suggest that this is already happening.”
Additionally, Strategy Analytics reports that total spending on mobile media services by U.S. consumers and advertisers, including Web access, video and music products, will more than double – from almost $47 billion in 2007 to over $102 billion by 2012.
Mobile Internet is also benefiting from the popularity of Social Networking Services (SNS) websites, according to M:Metrics. In 2008, the media authority reported that social networking and Internet commerce is compelling smartphone users to spend an average of four hours and thirty-eight minutes per month browsing the mobile Web in the U.S. and two and a half hours per month in Britain. M:Metrics further noted that Craigslist was the most popular mobile Internet destination while MySpace and Facebook were third and fourth most popular, respectively. Facebook was named the number one most popular search term in the UK.
Mobile access to email has also been a significant driver of Mobile Internet usage. Companies such as Research In Motion, Visto, Microsoft and Good have developed devices and applications that allow users to sync their email accounts with their mobile devices providing instant access to their important messages even when away from their personal computer.
These services have been bolstered in recent years by the explosion in popularity of smartphones that pack larger screens, greater processing power and real or virtual keyboards that allow users to quickly and easily compose and respond to email messages. ABI Research predicted in a March 2008 report that smartphones will account for 31 percent of the global handset market by 2012, while a November 2008 report conducted by The Kelsey Group found that nearly half of adults were considering a smartphone for their next mobile device.
According to a Netpop report released in April 2009, the three most important mobile Internet services are email, text messaging and weather. A Comscore report released in March 2009 found that 75 percent of Apple iPhone users in the UK accessed email from their devices.
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