It’s not a shock to see research verifying the fact that Americans use a lot of data. Just how much is surprising, however. A new CTIA report said that, last year, 132 trillion megabytes (MB) of mobile data was consumed. Total growth was 32 trillion MB, which marked the biggest year-over-year increase ever and was the third consecutive year of approximately 35% growth.
The growth in the United States dominates the world. The report found that investments in the states account for 20% of worldwide investments, though the U.S. represents only 4.3% of the global population. The great investment is put in context with another fact from the mobile data report: There are 1.7 connections for every person in the country.
Other highlights from the research:
- $29 billion was invested in networks, which brought the total to almost $219 billion since 2018.
- About 259 million devices are 5G-enabled, which represents nearly half of all U.S. wireless connections.
- More than 15,000 towers were added last year, bringing the total to nearly 450,000.
- Wireless service costs fell 0.5% during the past four years and smartphone prices dropped by more than half.
- The 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) segment added almost four million subscribers for home broadband. This represented 99% of new fixed broadband connections.
- Americans sent 42 billion more text messages and spent 30 billion more minutes on calls compared to 2023.
“The bottom line is simple: America’s wireless industry is delivering for consumers and powering our economy,” CTIA President and CEO Ajit Pai said in a press release about the mobile data report. “With policymakers and industry aligned, the next chapter will be even more exciting.”
The still growing-popularity of cell phones was also illustrated by a survey conducted by Dynata on behalf of Amdocs . The survey, timed for this week’s introduction of Apple’s iPhone 17, showed strength among both older and younger groups. Respondents cited both practical issues, such as long battery life and cutting-edge technologies as priorities.
