U.S. Mobile Broadband Usage Up 154% To 2.1 Million Devices

comScore has a new report out today about mobile broadband usage in the U.S. from 2006 to 2007. The net of the report is a jump of 154% in mobile broadband devices in use with a total of 2.1 million devices out in the market. I guess Google's move today with Google Gears on mobile makes even more sense in light of this report. Also interesting is the note that the Verizon and Sprint networks had the biggest jump in overall usage.

Work-related devices accounted for 59% of total devices and home took the balance 41%. I would bet that we will see a slow move to 50/50 over the next 2-3 years and eventually home will overtake business as devices become more affordable. The days of a $500 blackberry are over.

We've seen what startups like Qik and Flixwagon are doing with mobile video and we've written about QR barcodes and how mobile advertising will work.

While the report doesn't mention individual devices, some amount of growth has to be attributed to the iPhone. As devices become easier to use and provide more traditional desktop benefits, we are just beginning to scratch the surface of what's possible with mobile devices.