What? You Actually Call People On Your Phone?

According to the Office of National Statistics, over 17.5 million people use their mobile phones to browse the internet. Around 45% of those using the internet use their phone. Around 6 million people used their phone to access the internet for the first time in 2011. Back in 2009, only around 8.5 million people in the UK used their phones to browse the internet.

So what is behind this trend for increasing mobile phone usage?

The Smartphone Revolution:

Smartphones have certainly impacted on these trends. Since the advent of the iPhone series in 2007, phones have become better and better and have captured the imagination of the public.

The smartphone sector grew through recession and has been extremely buoyant despite the expensive contracts and expensive premium end phones. We’ve now seen new phones come on to the market that provide superb functionality, excellent screens, and 3G connectivity at budget prices. This has driven consumers to increasingly enjoy their mobile phone browsing experience.

Network Development:

Alongside the development in the smartphone market, the mobile phone networks have increased apace. We now have 4G connectivity with theoretical speeds of 14.4MBps and 3G connectivity is able to do around a tenth of that. Therefore we can get decent connectivity through 3G and excellent connectivity through 4G. With LTE and further advancements, we are going to be looking at even faster mobile broadband- mega fast.

It Depends Where You Are:

Only around 13% of rural mobile broadband users say that they have decent 3G connectivity consistently. Compare that to mobile broadband in London where you have well over 90% of users with good 3G activity.

According to the Office of National Statistics, 38% of people now use their mobile phones to surf while outside their homes and the rest jump on Wi-Fi.

Increasing Use of Wi-Fi Hotspots:

Over 5 million people now use Wi-Fi hotspots. This is a figure that is increasing fast and the variety of options to get on Wi-Fi hotspots is increasing. BT provides Wi-Fi hotspots, Sky offers them as well. There are even special cloud based Wi-Fi networks that you can get on in public places, paying a small fee.

Social Media:

The integration of social media into our phones has certainly been a major contributor to us getting online with them. As people have browsed Facebook, many have realised the speed and capacity of their phones to do more than just phone, text, and e-mail.

In addition, people have realised the benefits of being in touch on the go, especially with services such as eBay, where time really matters. You no longer have to sit in front of your computer to stay online.

Advertising Revenue Potential:

Companies like Facebook and Twitter are looking to increase their revenues from mobile phone markets. Increasingly, they are understanding that the potential of smartphones is so great, and that revenues from mobile broadband could end up surpassing their other revenue streams. They are drastically innovating and testing to find ways to generate the maximum that they can from this new and exciting revolution in technology.

Top Tip:

If you have a decent allowance of data on your phone, you can set it up as a wireless hotspot so you can jump online on your tablet or your laptop. There are many applications that can be downloaded through IOS, Windows, and Android. It really can be very simple to make your phone a mobile modem.

Author Bio:

Phil Turner bought his first smartphone recently, tempted by Sky offers he had received in the post about free wifi hotspots for Sky subscribers.