The mobile Internet underclass: Reality or hyperbole?

Abstract

Scholars have warned that because mobile Internet access offers lower levels of functionality and content availability, operates on less open and flexible platforms and contributes to diminished levels of user engagement, content creation and information seeking compared with traditional fixed solutions, mobile Internet has created a mobile Internet ‘underclass’. As a growing proportion of the online population is now ‘mobile only’, it is imperative to understand the extent to which mobile Internet may represent a meaningful substitute for traditional PC-based Internet access. Based on operational data from a major Chinese telecommunications carrier, this study provides a comparative analysis of the mobile Internet usage patterns associated with different access channels. Our results show that, in terms of mobile Internet usage, there is not enough evidence to support the ‘mobile underclass’ argument. However, our analysis reveals that the primary concern about the mobile ‘underclass’ remains as the first-order digital divide ‘access’ issue.