The United States has finally caught up with Western Europe in the adoption of 3G, with 28.4% of American mobile subscribers having 3G devices compared with 28.3% in the largest countries in Europe, according to comScore.

The number of U.S. subscribers with 3G-enabled devices has grown 80%, to 64.2 million during the past year, comScore reports. The market has responded enthusiastically as mobile vendors have rolled out their enhanced networks and a new crop of 3G-enabled devices.

The only individual major European countries exceeding the United States in 3G penetration are Italy and Spain, where penetration is now 38.3% and 37.2%, respectively.