Mobile internet has more users in Europe than US

Source: New Media Age

European mobile users are more likely to access the web via their handsets than their US counterparts, according to a comScore Networks study.

29% of mobile users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK regularly use their phones to browse the web, according to the report, in comparison to 19% in the US.

Men are more likely to use their phones for web access that women, with 55% of people using mobile web functionalities being male.

Nokia was found to be the leading handset brand in all European countries, with Motorola being number one in the US.

Portals, such as Google, MSN and Yahoo!, were the most popular destinations for mobile web users, although sites from the handset operators were not too far behind.

"In Europe, the mobile internet appears to mirror the dynamics of the fixed internet," said Bob Ivins, MD of comScore Europe.

"Google remains strong but the other US-based portals achieve much lower penetration, facing stiff competition from local competitors - in this case the mobile providers - who have the structural advantage of a degree of control over the access point and interface from the mobile phone."