Study: Wireless Internet Use Jumps Sharply

According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, more Americans are accessing the Internet using wireless mobile devices such as smartphones and laptops.

The results of the center's Internet & American Life Project survey show that 56 percent of adult Americans have accessed the Internet via wireless means, such as a Wi-Fi laptop, a mobile device, a game console, or an MP3 player. The most popular way people get online wirelessly is with a laptop computer, numbering 39 percent of some 2,200 survey participants.

According to the survey, 39 percent of people have used a laptop to get on a wireless network. Another 32 percent have used a mobile device - smart phone, cell phone or handheld device - to go online.

While laptops, game consoles and MP3 players were cited as some of the devices used for wireless Internet access, Pew's findings show that smartphones are playing a fast-growing role.

In December 2007, when Pew last looked at the issue, 11 percent of Americans said they had accessed the Internet the day before via mobile phone. In April, that percentage rose to 19 percent.

John B. Horrigan, Pew Internet Project associate director of research said "I think smartphones certainly have a good deal to do with the growth in use of mobile access."

(July 23, 2009)

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