With almost every wireless phone on the planet in the last few years being capable of accessing the mobile Internet from a built-in web browser, it stands to reason that usage would be increasing, even as carriers -- in my opinion -- market the service horribly. First consideration is given to voice plans, but having a customer sign up for and use the mobile Internet is a huge value-added service, not to mention incremental revenue that is just dandy.
With that said, over 34 million users accessed the mobile Internet in June 2006, mostly using xHTML browsers built into their phones. As I've speculated many times, the best experience -- by far, in my opinion -- is using the Opera Mini browser, which works on most Java-capable phones.
The interface is just so slick for what it is, the speed over an EDGE or EV-DO connection is excellent, and the newest version makes mobile browsing a breeze, even for a novice. Why most carriers don't package this in with their branded phones is a mystery to me.
