Wireless Internet popular with one-third of US net users

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 26 February 2007 15:35

Your IT - Home IT

A new survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project says that people with wireless Internet go online more often, showing that 34% of Internet users have used WiFi (at home or elsewhere) or a cell phone network to get an Internet conection, up from 22%  in 2004, while 27% have access the Internet from places other than home or work and 19% have WiFi at home – up from 10% in 2005!

Users with WiFi other other wireless access to the Internet (through cell phones or data cards) use the Internet more often than wired counterparts, according to the new Pew Internet & American Life Survey. conducted between November 30 and December 30 last year (2006). 798 Internet users were surveyed showing that 72% of wireless users check email at least daily – with only 63% wired users doing the same.

46% of wireless users also like to check news websites daily, compared with 38% of wired broadband users, and 31% of all Internet users. It seems hardly surprising considering the more natural inclination to check when access is so readily available from a wirelessly connected laptop computer. As such users with WiFi at home reported using their laptops all over the house.

Wireless still isn’t the most popular way to actually access the Internet – wired connections are still the most popular way to get connected. But with wireless speeds getting faster, and competition in the wireless space continues heating up, which will put more pressure on prices, the popularity of wireless Internet access can only inevitably grow and grow and grow until it is even more ubiquitous than mobile voice communications are today.

The report says that there are “differences between wireless and home broadband users [which are] statistically significant and notable because most wireless users (80%) have broadband connections at home. The findings suggest that the “relentless connectivity” afforded by wireless access represents a different quality in online behavior.”

People using wireless the most are aged between 18 and 49 years, with 56% of those men, which compares with an age group of 30 to 64 for ‘general Internet users’ where the male population is 46%.

Also of note is that 40% of laptop users are under 30, 40% can connected to the Internet with their cell phones, and 13% have a PDA with some form of wireless capability.

The survey, which has an error rate of plus/minus 4%, shows the popularity of wireless is growing at a rapid pace, and is being met by faster WiFi standards, faster 3G networks using HSDPA, and holds promise for upcoming WiMAX networks that cover huge areas with high speed broadband.

We can only expect these figures to increase dramatically in the next report. It’s a small and increasingly wireless world after all!