U.S. Edges Western Europe In 3G AdoptionU.S. Edges Western Europe In 3G Adoption

Thanks to the release of popular handsets, the U.S. market has surpassed Western Europe in 3G adoption by a hair, according to new data from comScore.

The number of American mobile subscribers with 3G is 28.4%, versus 28.3% in the largest countries in Europe. Additionally, the number of U.S. subscribers with 3G-enabled devices has grown 80% to 64.2 million during the past year, comScore said.

"For years, the American mobile industry has aspired to the level of sophistication of the European market," said Mark Donovan, senior VP and senior analyst at comScore, in a statement. "Today, Americans have finally caught up with Europeans in adoption of 3G."

Donovan credits the leap in 3G adoption to the release of attractive handsets, as well as the push to roll out networks by the mobile operators.

While Apple's iPhone 3G has definitely advanced the adoption of mobile broadband since its launch July 11, there have been a slew of other popular handsets that feature this mobile Internet access. Samsung's Instinct and the LG Voyager are just two examples of widely adopted handsets that pack 3G connectivity.

Additionally, the wireless operators have made major moves to advance their mobile broadband networks because the service potentially gives the carriers new revenue streams. The carriers can make money off the data subscription plans, and subscribers with 3G capabilities are also more likely to purchase mobile content than those with slower connections.

But rolling out these networks can take time, and can be problematic. T-Mobile spent more than $4 billion in 2006 to acquire spectrum for its 3G network, and is just beginning to deploy its network. AT&T beefed up its network before the launch of the iPhone 3G, but customers are still reporting issues with connecting to the data network.