Mobile Web Use in the US Surges Ahead, Increasing Three Fold over the Last Year

5 Jun 2007 12:00

Bango today published statistics which confirm that the UnitedStates is at the forefront of mobile web growth with a three foldincrease in usage over the last year, taking it to second positionbehind the UK. The increasing popularity of mobile search as a way offinding new content and services is fueling this rapid rise in mobileweb usage. £ By working as a "global exchange" for the mobile web, Bango isable to provide a unique insight into where mobile users are comingfrom and what handsets they are using. The Bango platform detectsusers from more than 190 countries accessing the mobile web. £ According to Bango data, the top five countries accessing themobile web via Bango* in April 2007 are the UK at 27%, the US at 21%,South Africa at 11%, India at 9% and Indonesia at 3%. £ In the first quarter of 2007 the top handset was the Sanyo KatanaSCP 6600. The fact that the Sanyo Katana is only available in theUnited States reflects the rapid growth in mobile surfing by US mobileusers. Other popular handsets included the Motorola V360, the SonyEricsson K750i and the Samsung A900. £ "We see that wherever flat-rate data charges are pervasive in acountry then there's much more web browsing," said Anil Malhotra, SVPof Marketing at Bango. "We expect to see more competitively pricedflat-rate data plans in the US which will stimulate further webbrowsing." £ Bango also has detected a rapid increase in the number of mobilesurfers coming from India. Now 9% of all accesses to mobile websitesare from India, up from 4% a year ago. India, with a population ofjust over 1,000 million and lack of an established fixed phone linenetwork, relies on mobile phones to stay in touch. Here, mobile webusage is set to exceed European levels within the next few years. £ "What we're seeing through these numbers is a transformation ofthe internet from something connected to a desktop to somethingmobile," said Malhotra. "With the advent of mobile search thattransformation is happening on a truly global scale." £ As a result, more businesses now are launching a 'mobile web'presence so they can engage directly with their consumers. Through acommon integration point, Bango makes it easy for them to drivetraffic to a mobile website, understand who the visitors are, trackmarketing campaigns and collect payment for digital contentworld-wide. £ About Bango £ Bango delivers the technology that makes the mobile web simple foreveryone. Bango created the world's first global exchange for themobile web. By providing a common integration point for brands,businesses and individuals, Bango removes the complexities that makethe mobile web difficult to exploit. £ Through Bango's global exchange, content providers see all usersas a unified global community. Users easily discover and access thewidest range of content and the world's leading mobile operator'spartner with Bango to give their subscribers the widest choice.Billing providers, search engines and advertisers are automaticallyconnected to content providers in Bango's global exchange. £ Bango has offices in USA, UK, Spain and Germany and is quoted onthe London Stock Exchange (AIM:BGO). Learn more at www.bango.com. £ * Bango identifies users by their country and network of origin.The ranking is produced by measuring the number of user visits tomobile websites from each country. Copyright Business Wire 2007