Smartphone owners are savvy about their Wi-Fi and want more of it

The proof is in the survey of 420 smartphone owners in the US that we commissioned in May 2011 and was conducted by MarketTools® Zoomerang®:

• 74 percent of smartphone users in the United States are interested in a mobile operator-provided service that uses Wi-Fi to provide lower cost calls.
• 72 percent of smartphone users are interested in an application that uses Wi-Fi to improve cellular coverage.
• Nearly nine out of 10 (89%) of respondents have smartphones with Wi-Fi.
• 77 percent have Wi-Fi at home; 54 percent have it at their place of work.
• 62 percent of people who own smartphones with Wi-Fi use the Wi-Fi four or more days each week.
• 30 percent say they use Wi-Fi because it is faster than the cellular network; 19 percent because it is easy to access the internet.
• 30 percent have smartphones with a Google Android operating system (OS); 26 percent use Apple iPhone OS; and 22 percent use a RIM OS.

As we all read about in tech and general publications regularly, smartphones have become the dominant mobile phone technology, and their users have aggressively embraced Wi-Fi for a variety of reasons. This trend appears to be continuing on its upswing with no sign of abatement.

Cost and coverage continue to be key issues plaguing the mobile industry, and solutions that address those issues are of great interest to subscribers. This survey finds that subscribers are truly interested in utilizing Wi-Fi capabilities more and are open to operator-provided services.

There are plenty more stats and information about customers by operator and by smartphone type available at Kineto.com.

If you've been following this blog for a while, you may recall that Kineto commissioned similar 2010 smartphone surveys in the US and UK.

Do these 2011 survey results coincide with what you think is going on in the market? Tell us what you think and what in the comments.