• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 3, 2002

Wireless Adults Go Online

The First Quarter 2002 Wireless Internet Benchmark study by comScore Networks, Inc. shows that 9.9 million Internet surfing adults in the U.S. use a personal digital assistant (PDA) or cell phone to access the Internet. This analysis of U.S. persons age 18+ who used the Internet from a PC in the first quarter of 2002 determined that among the 19.1 million users owning a PDA, 5.0 million access the Internet with those devices. Among the 67.2 million online users that own a cell phone, 5.8 million access the Internet with those devices. (Note: duplication among users that access the Internet with both a PDA and a cell phone has been removed from the total of 9.9 million.)

"Although wireless Internet usage is still in its relative infancy, these data prove there already is a significant wireless Web audience," said Peter Daboll, division president of comScore Media Metrix. "While there are more Internet users with cell phones, a much higher proportion of PDA owners report using those devices to go online. These usage rates warrant careful monitoring by publishers and marketers as they evaluate wireless strategies."

Males comprise 72 percent of the Internet users who access the Internet via a cell phone or PDA, while women comprise 28 percent (3.4 million). This compares to the total Internet population, where 48 percent (45.3 million) are male and 52 percent (48.3 million) are women. Persons age 18-34 represent 53 percent of online users who access the Internet via cell phone or PDA, while persons 35-54 represent 42 percent and persons 55 and older represent four percent. This compares to the total Internet population, where 40 percent (37.6 million) are 18-34; 46 percent (42.8 million) are 35-54; and 14 percent (13.2 million) are 55 and older.

Internet users with annual household income less than $60,000 comprise 41 percent (4.1 million) of those who go online via a cell phone or PDA, while those with annual household income of more than $60,000 represent 59 percent. This skews somewhat further toward high-income households than the total Internet population, where 51 percent (47.7 million) have a household income less than $60,000 and 49 percent (45.9 million) have a household income greater than $60,000.

Among comScore Media Metrix' 29 categories and 71 subcategories of online media, gay/lesbian sites have the highest concentration of Internet users that access the Internet with a cell phone or PDA (30 percent). Next in line are: car-rental sites at 17 percent; directories-classified sites at 16 percent; retail-movie sites at 16 percent; and retail-tickets at 16 percent.

While 11 percent of all Web-based e-mail users access the Internet via a cell phone or PDA, users of certain mail services have a notably greater propensity toward this application. The corresponding figure is 16 percent for users of Netscape Webmail, 15 percent for AOL.com Email, 13 percent for MSN Hotmail,while 11 percent for Yahoo! Mail.·

Twelve percent of visitors to news sites also access the Internet via a cell phone or PDA, though certain sites draw disproportionately higher percentages of wireless Web users, including: Wall Street Journal Interactive at 17 percent; Boston.com at 16 percent; CNN.com at 15 percent; and NYTimes.com at 14 percent.

"This first release of wireless usage data among active Internet users reveals distinct demographic characteristics and online behaviors that make this audience especially desirable to digital marketers," said Daboll. "Furthermore, the data identify specific destinations on the Web at which marketers and advertisers are most likely to target these users. These findings have immediate implications for near-term marketing and advertising strategies.