Mobile phone internet adoption 'has room for growth but not there yet'

Tuesday, January 26th 2010

A new report has revealed that despite common perceptions, 76 per cent of UK consumers do not use the internet over their mobile phones.

Mobile phone internet adoption 'has room for growth but not there yet'

Mobile phone internet adoption is not as popular as people might believe, a new report has suggested, although this comment may go against the recent rise in the uptake of smartphones.

According to Essential Research, the majority of UK consumers - 76 per cent - do not use the internet over their mobile phones.

Despite this, the potential for this market "is huge" and individuals are interested in engaging with brands that they already come across in their everyday lives, such as retail and banking firms.

One indicator of this opportunity is revealed by the fact that 56 per cent of non-mobile internet users would view consumer media via their handsets.

When compared to the 86 per cent of mobile internet users who hold this opinion, it could highlight how the two markets are closing.

"Sociability, often through social networks, is the biggest driver of mobile internet adoption to date, but our research also showed strong consumer desire for branded services for activities including shopping, banking, location-based vouchers and coupons for example," the organisation stated.

But there are barriers to the adoption of mobile internet, although these can be overcome. Handsets, costs and connection speeds are some of the reasons why such usage is being held back.

As previously reported, the Smartphone Intelligence study by Compete showed that 37 per cent of smartphone owners have purchased something with their handset over the past six months.

Whether shopping is one activity that is increasingly carried out over handsets remains to be seen and could depend on the ease of use and internet connection speeds of mobile phones.