The Internet on mobile phones: an overview

The idea of using mobile phones and cellular networks to access the Internet is far from being a new one. Technologies for mobile Internet access were being developed even before cellular networks could support either Internet protocol (IP) or any other form of packet data. However, ten years after the industry started to develop mobile Internet technologies, uptake and usage of mobile Internet by end users remain relatively low.

Why have users been so slow to adopt the Internet on their mobile phones? And is that likely to change? Here we consider those questions and analyse what the answers might mean for the future development of mobile Internet services. We examine, in particular, the role of mobile operators, and the impact of mobile Internet development on their business models.