A new study of 53,000 Americans has shown that internet users are increasingly less likely to have a residential broadband, instead relying purely on their mobile connection for all their internet needs, in what could be a huge shift in how consumers approach their online life.
The research was conducted by the US Census Bureau for the Commerce Department, and in part reflects conventional wisdom; low-income Americans are the most likely to rely purely on their phones to go online, with almost a third of households earning less than $25,000 (£17,300) a year exclusively using mobile internet, up from 16 per cent in 2013.
However, that growth was mirrored across the board, with mobile-only subscriptions at least doubling for every income bracket, from those earning between $25,000 and $50,000 (up from 12 per cent to 24 per cent) all the way to $100,000-plus households (up to 15 per cent from six per cent in 2013).
The tendency of lower-income households to rely on mobile internet was often cited as evidence of the nature of internet access as a new utility and a growing digital divide as those with little money must rely on expensive mobile data and free public wi-fi to access online services. 
While that divide is certainly still in place, the universal growth in mobile-only households suggests there is a more fundamental shift occurring. One in five US households are now mobile-only, compared to 1 in 10 back in 2013.
As consumers increasingly consciously choose to abandon home broadband, telecom firms and quadplay providers will have to invest more heavily in mobile infrastructure, and marketers should expect to see mobile activity and engagement grow even higher, as mobile becomes the new normal for our online lives.
