The number of mobile phone subscriptions registered for mobile Internet services in Taiwan soared 30 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year to 11.86 million, but actual usage of the Internet function lagged behind, an industry report said.
The increase of 2.71 million mobile Internet subscriptions meant that 48.8 percent of all cellphone subscriptions had access to Internet service functions, said a report released recently by the Foreseeing Innovative New Digiservices (FIND), a Web site run by the Institute for Information Industry to provide professional information on Internet demographics and trends.
GROWTH
In its report, FIND said that the growth was mainly attributable to a sharp rise in 3G data service subscriptions, which nearly doubled from 3.29 million in the fourth quarter of 2006 to 6.53 million in the fourth quarter of last year.
This accounted for 51.1 percent of all mobile Internet subscriptions.
That share outpaced the 32 percent subscribed for the Internet through general packet radio services (GPRS), a clear indication that 3G is replacing GPRS as the mainstream technology for mobile Internet access.
NO INCREASE
The rise in mobile Internet subscriptions, however, has not necessarily led to an increase in mobile Internet users.
A survey conducted by FIND last August and released in January showed that only 9.7 percent of Taiwan’s population, or 2.22 million people, had gone online using mobile devices.
This was only 1.6 percentage points higher than the number of users registered in 2006.
The results showed that mobile Internet use may not be as popular as it appears to be, FIND analysts said.
Promoting its use remained a major issue to be addressed by mobile network operators, the researcher said.
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