Mobile Data's Generation Gap

Young consumers are choosy, fickle and often stingy — all qualities U.S. carriers have discovered in targeting the elusive teen and young adult markets. But one thing seems clear: The kids want wireless data. For evidence, look no further than SMS take-up here in the U.S. According to a study conducted by Harris Interactive and Telephia, 35% of all U.S. mobile subscribers ages 18 to 24 use SMS. More telling are polls conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres that place American youths' interest in 3G services far ahead of any other age-based demographic. While only 25% of all U.S. mobile users expressed a high level of interest in advanced mobile data applications, that number rose to 45% when the question was put to subscribers under the age of 25. So young consumers obviously want the wireless data service that carriers have been promising. Now the wireless industry just has to figure out a way to get them to pay for it.

Figure 1: High-speed data desires among differing demographics

Figure 2: SMS pulls ahead with young and hip