Almost half of adult Texans, about 8.9 million, use mobile broadband devices — cellphones, laptops or tablets using a cellular network — to keep the Internet a constant companion, according to a survey by Connected Nation, a nonprofit that is working to map and improve broadband use in several states.
According to the survey, 11 percent of adult Texans don’t even bother with home-based broadband, relying only on mobile devices on cellular networks. And that percentage is higher among minorities and low-income people, both about 17 percent, according to the survey.
“Smartphones are revolutionizing the way Texans communicate and function in our modern world,” said Don Shirley, executive director of Connected Texas, a division of Connected Nation.
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Connected Nation reports that Texas and Florida led the eight other states in its survey: 48 percent in those two states use mobile broadband compared with an average of 42 percent in all 10 states.
Shirley said Texas’ expanse is a factor in the embrace of mobile technology here.
“More people have access to cellular networks than cable,” he said.
You can see the full survey here. Texas is below the national average in broadband adoption, but as noted above it for mobile broadband. I would have liked to have seen data from some other high-population states like California, New York, and Illinois, but no such luck. Still, some interesting tidbits in there if you’re into that sort of thing.