Use of mobile web low but growing, firm says

Only 5% of U.S. Internet users with broadband access via any hardware use their mobile devices to access the Internet, according to Media-Screen, an Internet marketing research firm. And it’s not for lack of access because more than 60% of users own Internet-enabled mobile devices, the firm adds.

Limiting the survey sample, taken this month, to broadband users may sound like an overly narrow way to view mobile Internet usage, but these individuals historically are the early adopters most likely to do things like use their phones to go online, Media-Screen says. The firm concludes mobile users and potential users break out into three groups: those who currently access the Internet from mobile devices (5%), those who have Internet-enabled mobile devices but don’t use them to go online (58%) and those who don’t have Internet-enabled mobile devices (36%).

The problem is mobile web access usually comes with extra fees, and it can be a hassle to establish and maintain an Internet connection, says Jean Durall of Media-Screen. “The mobile Internet still is in its infancy due to technological and pricing hurdles.”

But the picture is a little less grim when looking at all U.S. mobile users, according to comScore Networks. The research firm found 29% of 25-to-34-year-olds used the mobile Internet from October to November 2006.

“U.S. operators are still scrambling to get their billing systems up to snuff for doing more than voice traffic,” says eMarketer mobile analyst John du Pre Gauntt. “Although getting third-generation up and running is important for mobile web access, the other and perhaps more important part is developing an efficient billing and collection system. Once U.S. operators have worked this out, then perhaps an independent mobile content sector will begin to flourish.”

Rajiv Jain, senior vice president and CTO of online greeting cards retailer AG Interactive, and Levi Shapiro, director of Los Angeles operations at market researchers Telephia Inc., will speak on mobile commerce at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, June 4-7 in San Jose, in a session entitled Mobile Commerce is Happening—and Retailers Better Get Ready for It.