According to the study, John Horrigan, associate director of the Pew Internet Project and principal author of the survey, said the high cost of home access to the Internet led to adoption of the technology.
“The cost of broadband and personal computers drives some users to adopt mobile Internet instead of the traditional wire-line,” Horrigan said. “It might make sense to invest the money in a smartphone and a monthly plan that enables you to do so many different things, like make calls and send emails.”
He added that the heightened activity helps offset lower levels of traditional home usage among minorities. While a previous study showed African-Americans trailing in the national average of broadband access, this study showed the increase in mobile Internet usage was mostly among African-Americans.
Horrigan said that the typical early adopter of technology isn’t fitting the middle-aged white guy stereotype anymore.
“Now you see the cutting edge in mobile Internet being populated by younger people of color,” he said.
The report found that half of all African-Americans and English-speaking Hispanics access the Internet via phone or other handheld devices, while 28 percent of white Americans reported using mobile devices for surfing the web.
Overall, 32 percent of Americans have used a cellphone or smartphone to access the Internet, up by one-third since December 2007, when the center reported 24 percent of Americans using mobile Internet.
Since its last survey, mobile Internet usage on a typical day rose 73 percent among Americans to 19 percent.
Horrigan said the shift could spark a new wave of development in mobile technology.
“There’s the potential here for a very rich brew of innovation in the mobile space,” Horrigan said. “We might see all kinds of applications concocted to serve a population that is much more diverse than a dozen years ago in wireline access.”
The Internet and American Life Project of the Pew Research conducted the survey in April by interviewing 2,253 Americans.