More Americans Using Wireless Broadband Internet Than Ever Before

The use of wireless connections for Web-surfing has been steadily increasing during the last two years, with a new study showing that 34% of all internet users have some wireless connectivity. That means one third of all American internet users have checked email or browsed web pages using a PDA, Wi-Fi capable laptop or internet-enabled phone.

27% have accessed the internet wirelessly using networks installed someplace other than home or work. People who accessed the Web wirelessly from home made up 19% of the study, and PDA users with wireless internet access made up only 13%.

The study, conducted between Nov. 30 and Dec. 30 2006, also showed that the most popular wireless activity is checking email, followed by reading news. 72% of wireless users checked their email daily, compared to 63% of home broadband users and 54% of all internet users. Similarly, while 46% used their wireless connection to catch up on the news, that number fell to 38% of home broadband users and 31% of all internet users.

Despite the fact that an ever-increasing percentage of Americans use wireless technologies to access the internet, that percentage still lags behind Europeans and their usage. In October 2006, comScore networks reported that 29 percent of European Internet users (in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) regularly access the internet wirelessly, compared to only 19 percent in the U.S. Even if the more recent study shows that wireless use has increased greatly in the U.S., that percentage is still behind the one reported last year in Europe.

Wi-Fi is a brand licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications. It was developed to be used via laptops and in LANs, but is increasingly used for more services, including making phone calls online, gaming, and setting up a home "hub" using computes, televisions, DVD players, and digital cameras.

Sources:

www.playfuls.com/news_06346_Americans_Still_Lagging_Behind_Europeans_in_Mobile_Web.html
www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Wireless.Use.pdf