探索拥抱移动互联网的数字国家

Foreword The whirlwind rise of sophisticated mobile devices and high-speed wireless networks istransforming the Internet and how our society interacts with it. Americans are rapidlyembracing mobile technologies and the opportunities they create. In fact, adoption ofmobile Internet is proceeding faster than earlier technologies, including the television(DeGusta, 2012). The use of mobile Internet applications skyrocketed between July 2011and October 2012, rising by double-digit percentage points across generations. Mobilecommunications are now nearly ubiquitous—almost 9 out of 10 Americans ages 25 andolder reported that they use mobile phones. The data suggest that the use of mobiledevices for communications and information access has expanded exponentially and isnow deeply ingrained in the American way of life. Data from the Census Bureau’s October 2012 Current Population Survey (CPS) showthat 42 percent of mobile phone users ages 25 and older reported browsing the Web ontheir devices, up from 33 percent in 2011. Similarly, email use on mobile phones grewfrom 33 percent to 43 percent of users, and use of social networking applicationsincreased from 22 percent to 30 percent. Over half (54 percent) of mobile phone usersreported using their devices to take photos or video, representing a 13 percentage-pointincrease in just 15 months. Additionally, 88 percent of Americans over 25 reported in the CPS that they used mobilephones, and disparities in adoption of these devices shrunk in a number of key groups(including individuals lacking post-secondary education, those with annual familyincomes below $25,000, and disabled Americans) more rapidly compared to thecountry as a whole. According to Pew Research Center, as of January 2014, more thanhalf (55 percent) of all Americans 18 years or older now have smartphones, and 42percent own tablet computers (Pew Research Center, 2014). When combined with advances in mobile Internet connectivity, some form ofbroadband, whether fixed or mobile, is now available to almost 99 percent of the U.S.population. That said, while broadband adoption has grown from 4 percent to 72percent of households since 2000, 28 percent of households still lacked homebroadband connections by October 2012. Over a quarter of these non-users,representing over 7 percent of American households, did not go online at homeprimarily because it was too expensive. The continued persistence of financial and otherbarriers to Internet use is an urgent problem for policymakers because the “Internet hasbecome integral to daily life in the United States” (NTIA & ESA, 2013). Recently, thePresident reiterated the importance of Internet access to American society: If you think about the history of America, we united a continent by rail.We stretched a network of highways from sea to shining sea. We broughtlight to dark and remote areas. We connected the world through theInternet, through our imagination. All these projects created jobs. Allthese projects grew our economy. They also unified the country and theyare unifying the world. —President Obama on Technology in Schools, June 6, 2013 This report is the latest edition of ourDigitalNation series, and it is based on datacollected by the U.S. Census Bureau at the request of NTIA. Against this backdrop ofdata, today’s Internet-connected society raises a range of significant policy issues,including questions about spectrum use, universal service, copyright, privacy, security,and the economy itself. The data collected from NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP)and the State Broadband Data and Development grants that supported data collectionfor the National Broadband Map, as well as the CPS data, provide insight for thePresident’s wireless initiative, the Federal digital literacy programs, and the FCC’suniversal service reform initiative. These efforts will also help state and localpolicymakers throughout the country, in cooperation with private partners, to makesound, fact-based decisions that will improve America’s productivity, ingenuity, worldcompetitiveness, and standard of living. Consistent with this Administration’s resolve to maintain a transparent and opengovernment, the survey data utilized in this report are publicly available for use andanalysis by academic and policy researchers and others interested in the state ofInternet use in America. Acknowledgments National Telecommunications andInformation Administration Lawrence E. StricklingAssistant Secretary for Communications and Information Angela M. SimpsonDeputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information John B. Morris, Jr.Associate Administrator for Policy Analysis and Development Evelyn L. RemaleyDeputy Associate Administrator for Policy Analysis and Development James McConnaugheyChief Economist (Retired) Maureen A. LewisDirector of Minority Telecommunications Development Rafi M. GoldbergPolicy Analyst Deborah GoldmanIntern Danna Gabel O’RourkeIntern The Pro