Statistics Netherlands (CBS) published their latest numbers on the use of mobile Internet in the Netherlands recently. Of the 12.4 million Dutch users of Internet, 60% now use a mobile device to go online.
Mobile Internet use has tripled in three years. In 2011 mobile Internet counted for only 50% of Internet use, so there is a 10% rise in just one year.
The largest group of users of mobile Internet are those aged between 12 and 25. In 2007 21% of them used a mobile device to go online, while this year this group accounts for 86% of mobile Internet use.
A significant rise of mobile use can be seen too among seniors aged between 65 and 75. Five years ago only 6% of this group used mobile Internet, while this year 22% of them has used a mobile device to access the Internet.
Mobile devices to go online are mobile phones, laptops and tablets. Smart phones are the most popular means to use for gaining access to the Internet with 47% of the Dutch using one of them.
Smartphone users make up the group of most active users of mobile Internet. Around 66,6% of them use their device to go online nearly every day. Mobile devices are mainly used to read email, news or to access social networks.
34% use a laptop computer. The sharpest rise in mobile Internet use however, can be found among those going online with a tablet computer. In the first three months of 2012, 19% of mobile Internet users went online with a tablet, such as an iPad or Android tablet, and this rise is expected to continue over the course of 2012.
The Netherlands has 16.7 million inhabitants. 12,4 million of them use the Internet and 96 percent of the users aged between 12 and 75 years, go online on a regular basis.
Of the group who never use mobile Internet, 73 percent say they do not need Internet at home or when they are not at work. 16 percent find mobile Internet too expensive and 11 percent are clueless to how it all works.