According to the Mobile Data Association, the UK's mobile phone users accessed the internet via their handsets about 15.9 million times throughout the month of December 2006 - that's one million unique sessions more than in November 2006. The hefty boost also brought the three-month running tally to 45.6 million sessions.
So what do such rapid rates of increase imply in terms of conventional internet usage? And can we really expect mobiles to catch up - or possibly even overtake - good "old fashioned" computers?
Talking to the BBC, Thomas Husson, a mobile analyst at Jupiter Research, accredits much of the recent increase to seasonal gift giving. However, he also believes that further expansion should be expected over the next year in light of larger installed base of internet capable mobile phones, better user experience, user education and new consumer-friendly price points.
Nick Lane, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media agrees with the prediction of user growth, as well as with the foreseeable broadening of product exposure. He told the BBC:
"The continued advancement of handsets means people are beginning to spend more time familiarising themselves with new services."
Mr Lane added:
"The question for mobile network owners is: can they convert web browsers into purchasers of other services?"
Mr Lane predicts that, by the end of 2007, 797.6 million mobile phone subscriptions worldwide (or 25 percent of current subscriptions) will include web browsing.
So what do consumers love about mobile web access? For starters, it gives them flexibility: if they need to check their e-mail or track some information quickly on the web, they don't need to be in their office, at home, or even have their laptop with them. They can access the web easily on the bus or while walking - simply put, they can access needed information whilst "on the go".
And with the ever-increasing pace of life, many people find the feature desirable to say the least. It's no wonder then that mobile location aware services - like the mobile version of Google Maps - are gaining popularity to a level that threatens automobile navigation systems.
But despite all these advantages, will the benefits of the mobile web and the ease of mobile search catch up with the comforts of our trusty home computers? Not any time soon, it seems, as Mr Husson still believes that, despite the unprecendted numbers of people using the mobile internet, mobile data is still "far from being mainstream".
