Majority of Internet Access Will Be by Cellphone in 2007 - Report
A new report from Computer Industry Almanac has said that the number of Internet users surpassed 530 million in 2001 and will continue to grow strongly in the next five years. An increasing portion of Internet users will be using wireless devices such as web-enabled cell phones and PDAs to go online. The wireless devices will be supplemental to PC Internet access for most users in developed countries. In countries with low Internet penetration many wireless Internet devices will be the primary Internet access devices.
The report commented that the wireless Internet uptake was a disappointment in 1999 and 2000 due to unrealistic expectations in W. Europe and USA. However, the wireless Internet has lived up to expectations in Japan and Korea. Similar success is expected in other regions, but on a slower schedule. By 2007, there is expected to be 1.4 billion internet users, with 56.8% of those users accessing the internet via a wireless device.
"The wireless Internet will take off when always-on service and useful content for the small displays of wireless devices are available," says Dr. Egil Juliussen, the author of the report. "The rapid take off will be due to millions of "dormant" or web-enabled cell phones that are only used for voice services. As the wireless Internet user experience improves, an increasing portion of the dormant web phones will become active wireless Internet devices."
Posted to the site on 26th March 2002