Six Million Americans Use Mobile-only to Access the Internet

As of the end of 2011, just over six million Americans will depend on wireless-only as their access to the Internet - an increase of 430,000 over the past year - according to a recent study by the Strategy Analytics Service Provider Strategies program. Although these users are a minority, they still represent about seven percent of all broadband connections.

Strategy Analytics found that cable growth is slow but steady while DSL users are converting to fiber or mobile-only. However, the research company didn't see mobile - even fast 4G service - taking over as the sole home point of access.

According to Ben Piper, Director of the Service Provider Strategies program at Strategy Analytics, "We see two parallel markets for 'Mobile Only' in the US: users in remote or underserved areas where dependable fixed broadband is unavailable, and cost-conscious casual users, who are unlikely to exceed imposed data caps, and for whom mobile data rates are 'good enough'."

At present, mobile devices are in many ways inferior to wired broadband. Hand-held mobile is inadequate, for instance, to fill out a job application on a mobile smartphone. As Nathan Newman pointed out in his recent EPI report, "The benefits of robust wired and wireless networks," wired and wireless are complementary, not substitutes.

Global Broadband Forecast: 2H'2011 (study, Strategy Analytics Service, Dec. 2011)

Strategy Analytics: 6 Million Homes Now Using Wireless As Only Broadband Service (Business Wire, Dec. 14, 2011)

The benefits of robust wired and wireless networks (Nathan Newman, EPI, Nov. 30, 2011)
http://www.epi.org/publication/benefits-of-robust-wired-and-wireless-networks/