It's an "Untethered" World

A new study conducted by Cisco of more than a thousand U.S. mobile users suggests that the amount of Wi-Fi usage each day is so prevalent that smart phone, tablet and e-reader device usage now is more “nomadic” than mobile; more untethered than mobile; less “on the move” than just “unplugged.”

What’s more, the Cisco survey also suggests 25 percent of users “see no difference” between the mobile and Wi-Fi networks. The implied 75 percent of users who do see differences perhaps is the measure of the importance of voice communications and quick Internet operations or use of social networks and other communications apps.

At some point, such trends could lead to some specialized revenue models within the broader mobile and untethered access business, focusing purely on “data connections,” not mobile voice, much as the Wi-Fi hotspot business has been a specialized “data access” service.

That could ultimately be more important in developing regions where full mobile access is relatively expensive and bandwidth constrained, and might well rely on use of unlicensed spectrum and well as “self organizing” network nodes of some sort.

A separate study conducted by Ipsos suggests the typical employed person, in a wide range of countries, is connected to the Internet nearly 10 hours a day, often by Wi-Fi, with mobile devices used inside the home about 2.5 hours a day, as well.

All consumers use their mobile devices at home, the Cisco  study found, averaging more than 2.5 hours of usage in a typical day, more than double the time that “mobile” devices are used “on the go,” which is about half an hour a day, the study also found.

A quarter of consumers surveyed by Cisco “see no difference” between the mobile and Wi-Fi networks. Consumers consider Wi-Fi easier to use and more reliable than mobile.

“We may be on the verge of a “New Mobile” paradigm, one in which Wi-Fi and mobile networks are seamlessly integrated and indistinguishable in the mobile user’s mind,” the Cisco study says.

Almost 60 percent of consumers were “somewhat” or “very” interested in a proposed offer that provides unlimited data across combined access networks for a flat monthly fee.

Separately, an Ipsos survey suggests people who work are connected to the Internet 9.8 hours a day, on average. That multi-country study surveyed users in in Argentina, Australia ,Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa ,South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United States and Hong Kong. The detailed tables are here.

The survey conducted by Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) suggests
mobile users are connecting their devices predominantly using Wi-Fi. In fact, most mobile users are connecting their devices using Wi-Fi at some point, including 70 percent of smart phone owners.

About 50 percent of tablets, laptops, and e-readers are connecting exclusively through Wi-Fi. Although 30 percent of smartphone owners are connected only using the mobile network, the remaining 70 percent are supplementing mobile connectivity with Wi-Fi, the Cisco study suggests.

In fact, on average, smartphone users use Wi-Fi a third of the time to connect their devices to the Internet.

With the exception of smart phones, users would prefer to connect all of their devices usingWi-Fi. More than 80 percent of tablet, laptop, and e-reader owners either prefer Wi-Fi to mobile access or have no preference.

Just over half of smartphone owners would prefer to use Wi-Fi, or are ambivalent about the two access networks.

If given a choice between access networks, mobile users choose Wi-Fi over mobile across all network attributes, with the obvious exception of coverage. That leads Cisco researchers to conclude that “we may be on the verge of a ‘New Mobile’ paradigm, one in which Wi-Fi and mobile networks are seamlessly integrated and indistinguishable in the mobile user’s mind.”


                                           Network Connectivity Type (by Time)

                                        Source: Cisco IBSG, 2012


The Cisco research shows that 75 percent of Americans now have laptop computers, while 52 percent of respondents own smartphones, versus 48 percent who use traditional mobile phones.

Also, some 20 percent of Americans now own some kind of tablet, and 20 percent own an eReader.

With the exception of smart phones, Wi-Fi now is the predominant access technology for mobile devices. More “nomadic” devices like laptops, tablets, and e-readers almost exclusively connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi, with only approximately 20 percent of these devices having any mobile connectivity capability.

                                            Device Network Connectivity (owned device)

                            Source: Cisco IBSG, 2012


Almost half of all mobile users regularly consume all forms of video, music, books, and games on their devices.

One of the insights is that while they may be called “mobile devices,” devices typically are used at home. All consumers use their mobile devices at home, averaging more than 2.5 hours of usage in a typical day, more than double the time that they spend using them at work.
While two thirds of people still use their devices on the go, the world of mobile devices is changing from a “mobile,” on-the-go world (average usage of 0.5 hours per typical day) to a “nomadic” world dominated by the home. And, people expect to increase their home use of mobile devices even more.

Cisco IBSG conducted its online study  of 1,079 U.S mobile users in March 2012. The study was also undertaken in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.