Mobile Internet Population Jumps to 34.6 Million

More than 34.6 million mobile subscribers accessed the Internet via their wireless devices in June 2006, according to a study conducted by Telephia. The latest Telephia Mobile Internet Report shows that Email and Weather sites were the top two most visited mobile Internet categories. The sports category followed, with more than 7.1 million visitors, while the Search category secured 6.5 million visitors. Additionally, more than six million mobile consumers accessed City Guides/Maps sites in June.

According to Telephia, Yahoo! Mail was the most visited site by mobile consumers in June. More than 5.8 million mobile consumers accessed The Weather Channel through their cell phones, while visitors to ESPN totaled more than 5.3 million. Rounding out the top five, Google Search and MSN Hotmail secured 4.3 and 3.4 million mobile visitors, respectively.

"Mobile Web usage has continued to grow over the past year, as Internet content providers continue to extend their reach into the mobile space," said Bernard Brenner, Director of Mobile Content - Telephia. "As the industry matures and more mobile users continue to complement and extend their Web activity via their wireless devices, Internet content providers are well-positioned to broaden their audience overall."

Telephia's U.S. Device Census Report for Q2 2006 shows that Openwave, Motorola and Nokia browsers have the highest adoption rates among wireless Internet users, with more than one-fourth of mobile Web users accessing the Internet via an Openwave browser. Motorola followed closely with a browser adoption rate of 24 percent, while Nokia rounded out the top three with a 13 percent adoption rate.

According to Telephia, 81 percent of Internet consumers have phones with browsers that support xHTML-MP, which allows an enhanced Internet browsing experience that is closer to what consumers are familiar with on their computers.

"As xHTML-MP support becomes more widespread, mobile consumers will have greater access to richer presentation of content on their phones," added Brenner.