CARSON CITY -Connect Nevada recently released a new report focusing on mobile broadband adoption and use across the state.
The report, "Mobile Broadband in Nevada: Access at Home or on the Go," gives an in-depth look at how Nevadans are using mobile Internet service in places like Douglas County and the challenges of closing the gap for those in the state that are being left behind by the digital divide.
Some of the report's key findings include:
• More than 1.1 million Nevadan adults (54 percent) access the Internet via cellphones or subscribe to a mobile wireless service via laptop. This includes nearly 1 million Nevadans (46 percent) who use both home and mobile broadband, and 146,000 Nevadans (7 percent) who use mobile broadband instead of home broadband.
• Low-income and older Nevadans are significantly less likely to be mobile users than the statewide average. Only 20 percent of adult Nevadans age 65 or older access the Internet via a cellphone or subscribe to mobile Internet services, and only 36 percent of low-income Nevadans are mobile broadband users.
• Nearly one in three Nevadans who subscribe to Internet service on their cellphones (32 percent, or nearly 360,000) chose to do so because they wanted the freedom of being able to access the Internet while away from home.
• Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of Nevadans who subscribe to Internet on their cellphones go online with the device at least once per day. This means that over 800,000 Nevadans are using the Internet on their cellphones on a daily basis.
• For Nevada cellphone owners who do not subscribe to a data plan, the number one barrier is that they feel the service is not relevant to their lives.
• Almost one-quarter (23 percent) say that they don't want or need access to the Internet on their cellphones. Cost is also a major factor. One out of five Nevada cellphone owners (20 percent) who do not subscribe say that the monthly cost of mobile Internet service is too expensive, while an additional 7 percent feel that cell phones that can access the Internet are too expensive.
"This new research highlights the ways in which mobile broadband is offering Nevadans incredible opportunities on the go like never before," said Connect Nevada Program Manager Lindsey Niedzielski. "While it is encouraging to see that about 800,000 Nevadans are taking daily advantage of mobile broadband's many life-improving benefits, the research also concerns us that some of our state's needier populations are being left behind by the opportunities that Internet and mobile technology provide."
Connect Nevada is actively working to bridge the technology gap among all Nevadans to ensure everyone has access to the life-enhancing and lifesaving applications and services that broadband provides. For more information on how to get involved, please contact Lindsey Niedzielski at lniedzielski@connectnv.org or (775) 343-9600.
[[In-content Ad]]
