The US now has 29% of the world’s mobile web browsing traffic, and has knocked the UK out of the #1 spot on the list of countries with the most mobile web use, according to February data released by Bango.

Bango also said that this growth in traffic is being matched by a corresponding growth in users paying for content on the mobile web, in part because of publicity behind the Apple iPhone, as well as increasingly improving payment experiences that encourage more people to buy mobile content.

“With 245 million subscribers, it was only a matter of time before the US became the number 1 country in the world for mobile web browsing,” said Anil Malhotra, SVP of marketing at Bango. “When it comes to payments though, the US is accelerating faster than any other country and now accounts for 57% of payments worldwide.”

Bango predicted last summer that it was only a matter of time before the US overtook the UK in terms of mobile traffic volume.

Businesses Taken By Surprise

Though the use of the mobile web is growing quickly, the increase in mobile browsing has taken many businesses by surprise, Bango noted, adding that a large number of companies do not yet have mobile websites.

“Many people simply have no idea that they have visitors from mobile devices accessing their PC website these mobile visitors are simply invisible to them,” said Malhotra.

Browsing, Purchasing Not Necessarily Linked

The statistics also show that while some countries such as India and Indonesia have a good appetite for browsing on their mobiles, it doesn’t always convert into purchases. In fact, only five countries in the Top 10 browsing chart are also in the Top 10 payments chart - USA, UK, Portugal, South Africa and Spain.

No matter how high the browsing rate, it is only converted into a high purchase rate where people have a good disposable income and can pay for content on their phone bills, Bango said.  In regions such as India, South Africa, Indonesia and Egypt the driver for mobile browsing is a lack of fixed-line broadband and PCs for accessing the internet which means that the mobile device is the only way people can get onto the internet.

About the data: The February Bango statistics identify mobile web browsers using the Bango platform from a total of 208 different countries and using 1,811 different handsets. Bango continuously monitors mobile traffic going through its system.