The Samsung Galaxy S III is one of the best, and most popular, Android phones on the market. The only downside at this point is that there’s still too many people stuck on Ice Cream Sandwich. Carriers are slowly beginning to upgrade users to Jelly Bean, but the UK is moving much faster in this regard than the US.

Speaking of the UK, mobile carrier Vodafone has announced that Jelly Bean is now available to subscribers who own a Galaxy S III. According to Pocket-lint, the OTA update has started, but it’s going to be a tiered release. Owners will be notified when the update is available.

You can upgrade via a PC right now if you just can’t wait. Like always, the upgrade is available through Samsung Kies. This method is available only to subscribers of Vodafone and Three in the UK.

What about Galaxy S III owners in the US? We still have to wait anywhere between a few weeks and a few months for the update. It will be rolled out in waves across different carriers with each carrier deciding when to send out the upgrade. None of the carriers have thus far announced their plans either.

Google wants to get everybody caught up to the latest version of Android, but the large number of carriers and devices makes such a task incredibly hard. Couple that with carriers that renege on their promise to bring updates to older phones, and you have an Android ecosystem that can’t get away from the phantom of Android 2.3.