Mobile internet access catching up in China

July 16, 2010 11:31 AM EDT

With the introduction of 3G network and smartphones, mobile internet access is rapidly growing in China, representing about two-thirds of Internet users in the country, according to a latest report by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

As of June 30, 65 percent of the total internet users accessed the web through their mobile phones. Mobile internet usage recorded an 18 percent increase in the first half of 2010, the report said. But internet penetration rate in China is still far behind the developed nations such as the US and Japan.

Among the internet population who used only mobile to surf the net stood at 11 percent, up by 8 percent compared to December 2009.

"Mobile phones will catch up with personal computers to be another main access to the Internet in the coming years," said Liu Bing, director of Internet Research Department of the CNNIC.

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The growth will also be fueled by the availability of more applications for the mobile internet users, said Liu.

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According to CNNIC, instant messaging, searches and music are the most accessed applications in the mobile internet.

The fastest growing mobile internet application is Internet literature with 188 million users as of June 30, up 15 percent compared with 2009. The report cites raise in online works, e-readers growth and commercialized operation of the industry as the reasons.

The 3G network which was introduced in 2009 will further improve the prospects of internet usage in the country, the report said.

This picture augurs well for the mobile phone manufacturing companies with many of them preparing to avail the opportunity.

Major developments such as iPhone getting approval for WiFi recently and Blackberry association with China Mobile to introduce smartphones for individual users are expected to further increase the growth of mobile internet users.

By the end of June, there were 420 million internet users, 364 million Broadband users, 11.21 million domain names, and 2.79 million websites.

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