The landline systems in most European countries are way better than in the US. As a result of intensive investments after reunification especially Germany has one of the most advanced telecommunication systems in the world. 100% of German switches are digital and as you can see below we have the highest ISDN penetration in the world and also ADSL is available to 92% of German households (most of the remaining 8% can't get ADSL as they are conencted through optic fibres):
Switzerland, Austria, the Benelux countries and Northern Europe have comparable developed landline networks.
In the US only the highly populated areas have modern landline infrastructure - in other areas the system is ramshackle. That's why cable internet is so wide spread in the US.
So maybe in Southern and Eastern Europe people use mobile phones because of the lacking landline availabilty, but certainly not in the Northern countries.
However we should get back to topic.
