US passes Europe in 3G mobile device adoption - but has it passed the mobile Internet tipping point?

comScore, Inc. reported today that as an aggregate, the mobile 3G penetration rate in the US has surpassed that of Western Europe with 28.4% of Americans having 3G mobile devices vs. 28.3% in Western Europe. According to the release, the number of US subscribers with 3G enabled devices grew 80% to 64.2 million users and that the only individual Western European countries with a higher degree of 3G device penetration are Italy and Spain.

While the numbers appear compelling on the surface and portray the US as being a mobile leader, it’s important to take a look closer at the data.  What comScore reported was the number of subscriber devices that were 3G capable.  An important factor in the adoption of 3G capable devices is that the device providers in the US are, for the most part, only carrying 3G capable devices; thus, it’s probably safe to say that the majority of mobile device users are not specifically asking for a high-speed data capable device.  In addition, there isn’t a 1:1 correlation between the number of 3G capable devices and the number of 3G data subscribers.  If this was the case, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint should be posting near oil industry-like results with respect to data revenues and usage.

All cynicism aside, what is encouraging about these numbers is that the groundwork for high speed mobile data consumption is firmly in place. The carriers, for the most part (note to T-mobile: we’re waiting for your 3G network to be lit any day now), have the coverage, the devices are in the hands of consumers, and the affordable all-you-can-eat data plans are in the market. All that’s left is for more consumers to take the plunge and start using the mobile Internet. With the elegant mobile browsing trend started by the iPhone, followed by the LG Dare, and BlackBerry Bold among other devices, consumers are beginning to develop a hunger for the mobile Internet, but this hunger is still at the “appetizer” level. For this to grow to the “main course,” content providers need to entice the consumers.

New and creative ways of accessing and browsing the “Internet” incorporating GPS/location-based services, geotagging, temporal social networks, M2M networks, m-Commerce, and over-the-air collaboration among others should be leveraged by content creators to deliver compelling mobile interactions and destinations that consumers will seek out, and this cannot accomplished by simply “shrinking the homepage.” At the end of the day, it is important to treat the mobile screen as a new, yet synergistic, platform and to facilitate innovation in order for the mobile Internet to become as successful as the wireline Internet.