Some 7.3m people accessed the net via their mobile phones, during the second and third quarters of 2008.

This is an increase of 25% compared to a growth of just 3% for the PC-based net audience – now more than 35m.

It also found that the mobile net audience was younger and searched for different things.

While Google remains the most popular site for those logging on via the desktop, on mobile internet BBC News is the most visited site, with nearly a quarter of mobile internet consumers using it.

Other popular sites include BBC Weather and Sky Sports.

“This highlights the advantage of mobile when it comes to immediacy: people often need fast, instant access to weather or sports news and mobile can obviously satisfy this,” said Kent Ferguson, a senior analyst with Nielsen Online.

Read the full story in BBC here.

Yes, the Screen Is Tiny, but the Plans Are Big – New York Times

ESPN is clearly onto something. More than nine million people visit its cellphone Web site each month, a following that surpasses the audience of most computer-based Web sites. Some sports fans apparently cannot wait to reach their homes or offices to check the score of a Patriots game or to see if their favorite pitcher has tossed a no-hitter, so tens of thousands of them receive an average of 22 ESPN text messages on their phones each week. (Since the alerts began in March, baseball updates have been the most popular.) As he finishes taping a segment for the cellphone show “ESPN ReSet” — a recap of morning programs on ESPN — Trey Wingo, the show’s anchor, says mobile-content skeptics will be proved wrong. Mr. Wingo says that when ESPN made its debut as a cable channel in 1979, doubters said that “people weren’t going to watch a 24-hour sports network — it’s similar to what they’re saying about cellphones now.”

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