Social networks are some of the most popular sites on the mobile web, and while its easy to access them with a smartphone, it gets a whole lot harder using a standard feature phone. According to comScore (NSDQ: SCOR) M:Metrics, 15 percent of the 25 million US smartphone users access social-networking Web sites “almost every day,” compared to a much smaller 3.6 percent of feature phone users. But given their popularity, both handset makers and carriers are trying to make it easier for consumers who can’t afford or don’t want a smartphone to access social nets, reports the WSJ.com.

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On the handset front, there’s INQ, the low-cost “Facebook phone” currently available only through the UK carrier, 3. The phone costs $110 on a pay-as-you-go basis, or is free on an 18-month plan costing $25 a month, which includes unlimited Facebook access. INQ, which also makes 3’s Skype phone, is reportedly “in talks” with two major carriers to expand distribution of the phone. INQ didn’t break out the figures of how many Facebook phones its sold, but said overall since November 2007, it has sold 700,000 phones—which includes their Facebook phone and their Skype device. The Facebook phones launched in November last year.

US carriers, meanwhile are looking for ways to make it easier to access the mobile web, which allows users to perform more tasks on the social nets, than through messaging. Sprint (NYSE: S) will begin selling the Samsung Exclaim for less than $100 after rebate, which will give one-click access to the pre-loaded applications of the social nets. AT&T (NYSE: T), according to the WSJ.com is currently overhauling its mobile front page and is currently working on better integrating search. It also plans to upgrade the browsers it uses on all feature phones with an advanced browser from Norwegian browser firm Opera Software (OSL: OPERA).