Pew: Minorities Embrace Internet via Handheld Devices

Ars Technica reports: A new report released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project will surely spill over into arguments about broadband penetration in the United States, not to mention other debates. It says that African-Americans access the Internet via handheld devices more often than whites, for whom an online connection is more likely to come from an ISP-connected computer. "This means the digital divide between African Americans and white Americans diminishes when mobile use is taken into account," Pew says. Expect arguments about audience ratings systems and exclusive handset deals to be influenced by the report as well.

Pew's "Wireless Internet Use" survey was based on telephone interviews with 2,253 adults (people over 18) conducted in April and March. Merged with earlier surveys, it notes that the percentage of Americans who say they've used the Internet on a handheld is now at 32 percent, up by eight percent from December 2007. But while the share of white respondents who disclose that they've ever gone online this way has grown from 21 to 28 percent, among African Americans it has jumped from 29 to 48 percent. And among English-speaking Hispanics, from 38 to 47 percent.

On an average day, twenty nine percent of African-Americans access the internet on a handheld, according to the survey. What this does, Pew says, is even the gap between white and nonwhite Americans on broadband account fueled laptop/desktop access. White Americans hit the web using a telco/cable ISP connected computer by a significantly higher margin than African-Americans: 59 to 45 percent.

But the internet access rate for black users rises to 54 percent when mobile devices get factored into the mix. "The high level of activity among African Americans on mobile devices helps offset lower levels of access tools that have been traditional onramps to the internet, namely desktop computers, laptops, and home broadband connections," Pew concludes.

Reasons to be cheerful, part 2

Fifty-six percent of all Americans have gotten to the Internet via some kind of wireless gadget, Pew reports. That includes cell phones, laptops, game consoles, and MP3 players. But the reasons that they're going online have become more varied, especially with handhelds. More users turn to them not just to communicate with friends, family, and coworkers, but to look at, listen to, and share content. Fifty percent of respondents told Pew that wireless is "very important" because "I can stay easily in touch with other people." But 46 percent classified it at the same priority level because "I have easy access to information online" and 17 percent because "I can share or post content online."

Again, among African-Americans and Hispanics, these trends are more pronounced. Fifty-three percent of the former said accessing information is very important, and 22 percent said the same for sharing or posting. For Hispanics, the answers were respectively 54 and 24 percent.

"Overall, English-speaking Hispanics are the heaviest users of wireless onramps to the internet," the report says, but notes that Pew did not survey people whose primary language is Spanish.

Interestingly, there's a big gap between the percentage of people who have an Internet-capable handheld, and the share who actually use it for that. Eighty-five percent of the respondents told Pew they have a smart phone or cell phone, but only 32 percent said they've used it to go online. There's much less of a gap with laptops. Forty-seven percent reported having one, 39 percent say they've accessed the 'Net with it via a wireless connection.

Where is this going?

These stats will probably have an impact on various hot topics being debated in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission. Critics of how Arbitron recruits radio-listening participants for its audience rating surveys may note that they highlight the importance of including more cell phone only households in the mix, given the prominence of minorities in that category. The FCC is currently running an investigation of the metrics company's new Portable People Meter device.

And this report has to be good news for those hoping to put a more positive spin on the nation's progress in providing broadband for all Americans. The Internet Innovation Alliance's recent survey on US broadband penetration noted that high speed wireline Internet adoption has had a huge impact on the economy. "The sizable benefits to households from mobile wireless broadband services are additional to our estimates," its report noted. Expect that addition to be included in future surveys, especially those offered by the wireless industry itself.

Then there's the exclusive handset deal question, about which the FCC's new chair has promised an investigation. Pew's survey will doubtless be noted by all sides of that debate. Data indicating that more and more people rely on mobiles for internet access dials up the question of how much choice consumers have over handsets and handset applications.

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Matthew Lasar writes for Ars Technica.