Americans abandoning wired Internet, says study

Americans are abandoning their wired Internet for a mobile-data-only diet — and if the trend continues, it could reflect a huge shift in the way we experience the Web.

The news comes as part of a bigger study on American online behavior conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. While some of the results — such as that low-income families are relying primarily on their phones to get online — we already knew, what is new is that the use of mobile Internet is occurring across the board.

For instance, 15% of households that earn more than $100,000 annually use mobile devices to access the Internet at home—an increase from 6% who did in 2013. Similarly, 17% of households that make $75,000 to $100,000 each year depend on mobile Internet (compared to 8% in 2013), while 18% of households that make $50,000 to $75,000 use their mobile devices to get online (also compared to 8% in 2013).

Still, low-income households saw the biggest two-year percentage jump in mobile Internet usage. Currently, 29% of households that earn less than $25,000 a year exclusively use mobile Internet—up from 16% of households that did so in 2013. In total, about 20% of U.S. households are mobile-only, a sizable jump from 10% in 2013.

The drive toward mobile Internet usage might be a measured decision on the part of wealthier Americans, who find they are using mobile Internet more and decide that it’s superfluous to pay for two ways of connecting. Getting rid of broadband service at home easily saves $50 to $70 per month.

Agencies/Canadajournal