Almost half of worldwide mobile users have internet access on their telephone but actual usage of the wireless internet is yet to match penetration levels, according to the July 2004 Mobinet report.
Currently, Japan is leading the race for internet-enabled mobiles with nearly 80% penetration, with Europe at 47% and North America trailing in mobile phone advancement at 37% – tying with Brazil.
Mobinet, a project from A.T. Kearney and Cambridge University’s Business School, said that currently 66% of mobile owners are only ’emerging users’ but in the next 12 months are expected to become ‘regular’ or ‘heavy’ users, taking these figures from 9% and 1% respectively to a combined total of over 40%.
Using a mobile phone to purchase goods or services is most popular in Brazil with 14% of multimedia phone owners saying they would do this at least once a month, with 13% of respondents in Japan and the rest of Asia also using their phone in this way. America and Europe is lagging behind the rest of the world with penetration at only 6% and 5% respectively.
The main issues that may stop mobile phone owners using data services according to the report are; cost, with 35% of survey respondents flagging this and security & privacy with 22% of the votes. Interestingly the concern over security & privacy has shot up more than any of the other categories, rising by 12% in the past year. The same issues, in a similar ratio, also apply for non-internet enabled mobile phone users.
Downloading games and music to mobile phones has also grown in popularity, especially among those aged 18-25. In 2004, 21% of multimedia phone owners downloaded music, with game downloads being nearly as popular at 18%.
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