• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 4, 2009

A new study from Mobext, the mobile marketing arm of Havas Digital, highlights data showing the U.S. has caught up to or surpassed major Europe countries in key areas such as the percentage of 3G and mobile Internet users, at 28% and 18.2% respectively. (Asia is still way ahead, with 80% 3G penetration.)

The report attributes the 74% growth in mobile Internet use in the last two years to flat-rate mobile data subscriptions, a huge increase in 3G customers and the proliferation of the iPhone. It points out that iPhone 3G's $199 price made smartphones affordable to the mass market.

But in a sign of how fast things are moving in the smartphone space, the study doesn't include more recent developments like Apple cutting the iPhone 3G to $99 when it released the new 3G S model in June.

That move continues to reverberate through the market, with Verizon Wireless Monday slashing the prices of all but two of its smartphones with the exception of the BlackBerry Tour and the Samsung Saga to $99 with a two-year contract. Earlier this month, Verizon halved the BlackBerry Storm's price to $99, with a Storm 2 said to be in the works.

With smartphones starting at $99 instead of $199, the expansion of 3G and mobile Internet use is only likely to accelerate. At the same time, the Mobext report cites research indicating that North American mobile subscribers are less willing to pay for mobile content such as gaming and multimedia than their counterparts in Asia, Europe and Latin America. They're also less receptive to advertising in exchange for free access.

Those findings themselves are based on a 2007 KPMG study, so attitudes may have changed somewhat since then in connection with trends like the rise of flat-rate calling and data plans. But they suggest wireless operators, publishers and marketers still face higher hurdles monetizing mobile media in the U.S. than elsewhere.