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Two reports from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project show significant growth in Internet access among American adults. Mobile access has increased by 73% in the 16 months since their last survey. Home broadband connections have grown by 15% in the past year.
Mobile Access
- More than half (56%) of Americans have accessed the internet by wireless means.
- 39% of all Americans have used a laptop computer to go online wirelessly, making this the most prevalent means of wireless access.
- 32% of all Americans have gotten online with a mobile device – meaning they have used a cell phone or other handheld device to check email, access the internet for information, or send instant messages.
Mobile usage is particularly strong for African Americans, with the growth rate doubling to 141% in the sixteen months since the last survey. “The notion of a digital divide for African Americans has some resonance when thinking about the wireline internet,” said John B. Horrigan, Associate Director of the Pew Internet Project and principal author of the report. “But when you introduce the mobile internet, the picture changes and African Americans are the pace setters.”
Nearly half (48%) of African Americans have at one time used the internet on a mobile device, and on an average day, 29% go online with a handheld. That compares with 19% for the general population.
Among all cell phone or wireless laptop users:
- Half (50%) say it is very important to them to have mobile access in order to stay in touch with other people.
- Nearly the same share (46%) says they mobile access is very important for getting online information on the go.
- One in six (17%) say mobile access is very important to them so they can share or post online content while away from home or work.
Home Broadband
Several demographic groups experienced rapid growth in home broadband adoption from 2008 to 2009:
- Adults living in rural America, 17% of the sample, had home high-speed adoption grow from 38% in 2008 to 46% in 2009, a 22% increase. Notably, the growth rate for African Americans was slower than the norm. Broadband penetration for rural African American adults is now at 43%.
- Senior citizens age 65 or older had broadband adoption grow from 19% to 30%, or a 58% increase.
- Respondents living in households whose annual household income is $20,000 or less, saw broadband adoption grow from 25% in 2008 to 35% in 2009.
- Overall, respondents reporting that they live in homes with annual household incomes below $30,000 (27% of the sample) experienced a 34% growth in home broadband adoption from 2008 to 2009.
Consumers hit by the recession were willing to give up cable TV, but not Internet access.
Sources: Pew Internet, Wireless Internet Use; Home Broadband Adoption 2009
