Text messaging continues to be the overwhelming data application used on a regular basis, says Yankee Group (News - Alert) analyst Patrick Monaghan.

 

On a weekly basis, 45 percent of all respondents with mobile phones use text messaging while other data applications.

 

Data services that require additional data plans get far less usage. About 12 percent of mobile device users report using email weekly while and 11 percent of mobile users say they use their devices for Internet browsing on a weekly basis. Some of the more immature data applications used by respondents include getting GPS driving directions (5 percent use each week) and banking (3 percent).

 

Even though year-over-year growth can look impressive, adoption of these data-intensive applications still remains slow, says Monaghan. From 2007 to 2008, email usage on mobile phones grew by 71 percent, followed by mobile internet browsing at 57 percent. Watching video clips or TV on a mobile phone grew 100 percent year-over-year between 2006 and 2007 but adoption only grew from two percent to four percent, he says.

 

While only 5.7 percent of all respondents said they access the Internet anywhere on a mobile device, more than 13 percent of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 do so. About nine percent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 34 access the mobile Internet. Just about two percent of respondents over the age of 50 do so.

 

A decade ago, it was clear that children were the remaining underserved market segment for wireless carriers. For the most part, mobile providers have conquered the segment. About 49 percent of respondents with children indicated that their children have mobile phones.

 

There is a 21 percent adoption rate of mobility even for children as young as five. Some 82 percent of respondents’ children between the ages of 16 and 17 have a mobile phone.

 

In comparison, the mobile penetration rate among the entire respondent base is 76 percent.

 

On a daily basis, teens between the ages of 13 and 17 use text messaging more than they place voice calls. About 63 percent of teens stated that they send text messages minimally once per day compared to 61 percent who say they make voice calls.