At least 10 million Germans regularly access the mobile internet via their mobile phones. This represents around 17% of the total mobile subscriber base, concludes a survey by Bitkom. Around eight million use their phones to visit websites (13 percent of mobile phone owners), 4 million write e-mails (7 percent) and also 4 million use downloadable apps (7 percent).

"The mobile Internet has made the breakthrough in the mass market," said Bitkom board member Ren� Schuster. The decisive thrust has been the increasing proliferation of smartphones. According to Bitkom forecasts, the current year will see sales of about 8 million smartphones in Germany. This represents one third of the total mobile phone sales in 2010.

Especially popular is the mobile internet among the young. A quarter of 14 - to 29-year-old uses cell phone owner mobile Internet functions: 24 percent of the young go to websites, 14 percent write e-mails and 13 percent use Apps.