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Brian McBride, managing director of Amazon UK, told The Bookseller that the launch was being held up by the problem of licensing mobile access across Europe.

"If you need agreement with carriers in the US, there is one carrier," he said. "In Europe it is a minefield, as there are so many operators. If you buy a Kindle in the UK and want to read it on the beach on holiday, unless we have signed deals in Spain it is not going to work on the beach."

In the US, Kindle users get free wireless mobile access for users to buy and download books directly to the device.

McBride said that he isn't concerned that Amazon may be left behind in the UK market. High street book retailers such as Waterstones and Borders have recently begun selling eBook readers from Sony and iRex, but McBride said that Amazon is concerned with "long-term business growth".

Citigroup has estimated that Amazon will sell around 380,000 Kindles this year.