New Report Documents How Mobile Fundamentally Changed Internet Use

A new report released today shows how mobile technology has fundamentally transformed internet access and use. The report gives forecasts and makes recommendations for policymakers going forward. Among the findings is the rapid rise in dependence on apps, which can raise security, privacy, competition, and cost concerns, as well as issues of availability of locally relevant content online.

The Internet Society launched its second annual Global Internet Report today, entitled, “Internet Society Global Internet Report 2015: Mobile Evolution and Development of the Internet.

Report author Michael Kende, the Internet Society chief economist, said he was surprised to find that “for at least the people that have been surveyed in the US, 84 percent of their time on a mobile is spent using apps.”

The report defines “mobile Internet” as full mobility using a smart device. The report also discusses remaining challenges in the progress of internet development and covers issues such as evolution and development of the internet, privacy, security, “app economy”, internet availability, affordability, and relevance to potential users.

The Internet Society (ISOC) was established in 1992 with the vision that “the Internet is for everyone”. It is an independent organisation with over 65,000 members and 100 chapters with the mission to promote the open development, evolution, and use of the internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world.

Michael Kende, report author and chief economist for the Internet Society, told Intellectual Property Watch in an interview that the drive behind this report was that increasingly more people are using mobile platforms to access the internet.

According to the report, “the mobile internet does not just liberate use from the constraints of a wired connection, but it offers hundreds of millions around the world their only, or primary, means of accessing the Internet.” Therefore, the report highlights the implications of this trend.

Specifically, the report contains sections on: (i) Trends and Growth of the Mobile Internet; (ii) Benefits of the Mobile Internet; (iii) Challenges of the Mobile Internet; (iv) Recommendations.

Trends and Growth of the Mobile Internet

The report finds that the mobile internet penetration is rising faster than overall internet penetration, which highlights the importance of the mobile internet for users who are increasingly driving internet growth. In 2013, global 3G and 4G capable phone and mid-screen device connections reached 1.97 billion users, a penetration of 28 percent. Global penetration is forecast to grow quickly to 71 percent in 2019.

An important issue identified by the report is “affordability” and how it is intricately connected to the growth of the mobile Internet. Specifically, there should be affordability of subscription and affordability of the device as it is critical to mobile internet uptake.

The report also finds that mobile cellular networks covered 94 percent of the global population in 2013. Notably, coverage in certain regions (Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, developed Asia Pacific, and North America) was near a 100 percent saturation point for many years. However, the proportion of the global population in 3G coverage areas continues to rise, reaching 48 percent in 2013.

In the interview, Kende said he was surprised how far ahead availability was compared to adoption.

Benefits of the Mobile Internet

The report determined the benefits of the mobile internet by breaking it down into different topics: Entrepreneurship, Livelihood, Education, Accessibility, Governance, Health, Personal Security, Entertainment, Internet of Things, and Smart Cities. Some highlights include:

• There are over 2 billion users of the mobile internet with access to app stores which helps stimulate entrepreneurship;
• The mobile internet’s provision of apps helps improve livelihood by compensating for existing gaps in support in rural areas;
• In 2014, survey data showed that 24 percent of people in developing countries were regularly using the mobile internet for educational purposes, alongside 12 percent of those in developed markets;
• There is a potential for improving governance as the mobile internet has the benefit of being able to make public information and government services available on an ‘anytime, anywhere’ basis.

Challenges of the Mobile Internet and Recommendations

The report outlines some of the challenges that follow the evolution and development of the mobile internet.

In the context of evolution, one challenge specified in the report is the resulting privacy concerns that arise from location-based services.

When asked how to address these privacy concerns, Kende responded that “you have to be able to make an informed choice and that’s two sides, you need choices to be able to make and then you need to know about them. Some of it is just awareness, and that’s one of the reasons for the report, to increase awareness of what’s going on.”

Another challenge resulting from evolution is the heightened security issues that accompany use of the mobile internet on a number of wireless interfaces and access to apps. Such security issues include both reading of personal and sensitive data that is within the devices and placing unwanted data or programs on the devices. To address this challenge, the report recommends that users become actively engaged in safeguarding their private data and interactions with the mobile internet.

Apps also pose challenges in the context of evolution as app stores create costs for developers and customers and may limit competition. Some of those challenges include openness and development costs.

The report notes that app stores control the openness of their platform to developers and exert control over what is available to varying degrees. Regarding development costs, the report says that developers face costs in making their apps available on each platform.

The budget for app development is a serious consideration for most small to mid-sized businesses as media costs for app development ranges between USD 37,913 and USD 171,450.

The way to address this challenge, according to the report, is by the adoption of the OpenStand principles endorsed by ISOC. The vision of OpenStand is to allow developers to create websites with advanced features that can be installed on a mobile device.

In the context of development, more users are doing more with the mobile internet, therefore, the challenge becomes the issue of whether there is enough spectrum available. The report finds that spectrum management is a critical policy and regulatory issue. Therefore, policymakers need to ensure that adequate spectrum will be available to mobile internet access, at both the international and national levels.

Kende noted that the upcoming UN International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC15) is important for identifying the spectrum bands.

Another challenge faced in development is whether the mobile internet could close the digital divide.

The underlying challenges are availability, affordability, and relevance. The report notes that the availability of mobile internet service far outpaces adoption rates. With respect to relevance, the report points out that there is far greater percentage of online content in English compared to the proportion of the global population who can speak English.

There is a role for government to address the challenge of relevance by helping to promote content creation and usage by developing their own mobile-accessible websites, it says, hosting them locally and promoting the capacity building to support this activity.

Rishi Dhir is an intern at Intellectual Property Watch. He holds a Juris Doctor with honours from the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He also holds dual Bachelor Honour Degrees in Mathematics and Business Administration from the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. Rishi has an interest in a variety of IP issues including copyright law, piracy and Internet governance.

Ani Mamikon is an intern at Intellectual Property Watch. She recently completed her Juris Doctor at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. She holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science and International Security Studies. She has a strong interest various IP issues relating to privacy, human rights and information technology. Recently, she has also developed a keen interest in patent law.