Wi-Fi accounts for over 50% of mobile user connections to the internet according to a study by mobile billing vendor, Bango. These latest Wi-Fi stats announced by Bango follows a report they published in February 2010, which highlighted that at the time 23% of mobile website visits connected through Wi-Fi.

The new Bango stats are derived from an analysis of connection methods it tracks through its payment and analytics platform. Bango believes that growing consumption of streamed media is driving users to look for fast network connectivity from Wi-Fi, allied to greater certainty over data costs.

The increased adoption of smartphone devices and the popularity of tablets are among the factors behind the surge in Wi-Fi usage. Bango measured different connection methods over the months of December 2010 and January 2011 using its mobile analytics technology. This month-by-month analysis showed a sharp increase in the number of people connecting via Wi-Fi in January, which coincides with increased smartphone sales over the Holiday period.

Popular content – including music, movies, books and news – is becoming more digital by the day and increasingly consumed on mobile devices,” said Ray Anderson, CEO of Bango. “Our latest data shows that, where available, Wi-Fi is quickly becoming the mainstream method of connection to the internet. For the successful monetization of mobile content, providers need to ensure they are providing a consistent payment experience for these users however they connect.

Bango has pioneered mobile billing technology that identifies users and automatically offers them the best payment method to generate the highest payment success rate. In most cases this is operator billing, the payment method that delivers the highest conversion rates for mobile content.