Mobile internet use continues to grow
- Six in ten internet users go online with mobiles
- Young people use mobiles most
- Mobile phone most popular
- Used for communication, news and fun
There were 12.4 million internet users in the Netherlands in 2012. This is 96 percent of all 12 to 75 year-olds. Six in ten internet users had used mobile devices to go online in the three months before the survey. This share has tripled since 2007. In 2011 only 50 percent of the internet users used a mobile device to go online.
The use of the mobile internet increased particularly among young people in the 12 to 25 age bracket. About 86 percent regularly used mobiles to go online in 2012, compared to 21 percent in 2007. Mobile internet use also grew fast among the other age brackets. The 64 to 75 year-old internet users have the lowest share of just 21 percent in mobile internet use.
The mobile internet users prefer devices that are small and handy, such as the mobile phone, which is used by nearly half (47 percent) of all mobile internet users. Two thirds indicated they use them almost daily. Laptops (34 percent) and tablet computers (19 percent) are also regularly used to go online.
Mobile internet users using the small devices, such as mobile phones or handhelds, mainly do so to stay in touch with people. Almost three quarters use email and over two thirds participate in the social networks Hyves, Facebook and Twitter. Reading news and newspapers (62 percent) and fun – playing games and listening to music - (58 percent) are the favourite uses.
Four in ten internet users do not use mobile devices. Almost three quarters of them (73 percent) indicated that they do not need the internet outside their home or work. Furthermore, 16 percent mentioned the huge expense as their reason not to use mobiles to go online.