50 Wireless Quick Facts

U.S. WIRELESS INDUSTRY: ECONOMIC IMPACT 1. The wireless industry directly/indirectly employs more than 3.8 million Americans, which accounts for 2.6% of all U.S. employment. In addition, wireless employees are paid 65% higher than the national average for other workers.1 2. The “app” economy employs 466,000 developers and related jobs2 and grew from almost zero to nearly $10 billion in four years.3 3. The U.S. wireless industry is valued at $195.5 billion, which is larger than publishing, agriculture, hotels and lodging, air transportation, motion picture and recording and motor vehicle manufacturing industry segments. It rivals the computer system design service and oil and gas extraction industries.4 4. The economic impact of bringing 500 MHz of spectrum (per the FCC’s National Broadband Plan) to market by 2020 is $166 billion increase in U.S. GDP; at least 350,000 new U.S. jobs; additional $23.4 billion in government revenues; and $13.1 billion increase in wireless applications and content sales.5 5. The U.S. wireless industry accounted for $33 billion in productivity improvements for U.S. businesses in nine categories. Over the next 10 years, these efficiency gains will be worth more than $1.4 trillion.6 6. Total private sector jobs fell by 5.3 million between April 2007-June 2011, but the U.S. wireless industry added almost 1.6 million new jobs in the same time period.7 7. Continued 4G wireless network investments could mean investments of $25 billion to $53 billion, bring $73 billion to $151 billion in GDP growth and provide 371,000 to 771,000 jobs by 2016.8 8. For every $1 invested in wireless broadband, it will create an additional $7-10 for U.S. GDP.9 9. U.S. mobile content and social media revenue was $45.4 billion in 2011, up 30% from 2010.10 10. The global market for wireless accessories was $34 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow to $50.2 billion by 2015.11 11. Businesses spent more than $1.9 billion in 2010 on non-handsets (e.g. tablets, notebooks, e-readers); by 2014, it will be more than $5 billion on non-handsets.12 12. Mobile music revenues were $3.1 billion in 2010 and are projected to reach $5.5 billion by 2015.13 13. In 2011, U.S. providers reported making capital investments totaling $25.3 billion. Wireless providers in 15 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) spent $18.6 billion combined.14 WIRELESS ECOSYSTEM: INNOVATION 14. 50% of American adults own a smartphone as of February 2012, up from 36% in February 2011.15 15. There are more than 630 different handsets and devices manufactured for the U.S. market. Many of the hottest selling handsets were first released in the U.S.16 16. The average price of a smartphone has dropped for four consecutive quarters to $135.17 17. In 2008, Apple’s iTunes and the Android Market applications stores opened. By December 2009, there were 100,000 apps available. As of December 2011, there were more than 1.9 million apps on more than 11 operating systems offered by more than 28 non-carrier stores.18 18. The average smartphone has 22 apps and the average feature phone has 10 apps.19 WIRELESS DEMOGRAPHICS AND USAGE 19. Families in 16.4% of U.S. households with both landline and wireless phones received all or almost all calls on their wireless phones as of June 2011.20 20. As of June 2011, there were 96 million wireless-only Americans.21 21. Prepaid/Pay-As-You-Go services’ share of overall wireless market (penetration) is 21.6%, equal to more than 71.6 million wireless prepaid/pay-as-you-go subscribers as of December 2011.22 22. Wireless data traffic increased 123% from 388 billion megabytes in 2010 to 866.7 billion megabytes in 2011.23 The amount of data the average smartphone user consumes per month grew 89% from 230 MB in Q1 2010 to 435 MB in Q1 2011.24 23. In 2011, U.S. wireless consumers sent and received an average of 6.3 billion text messages per day.25 24. Cisco’s Visual Networking Index projects that wireless data traffic volumes in North America in 2016 will be 113 times the volume in 2009.26 25. Wireless accounted for more than 85% of all new high-speed connections between 2009 and 2010 offering download speeds of at least 768 kbps, and 61% of those offering download speeds of at least 3 mbps, regardless of technology.27 26. Mobile devices are one of the greatest public safety tools with more than 400,000 wireless E-911 calls made every day, or more than 278 wireless 911 calls made every minute.28 WIRELESS COMPETITION 27. As of year-end 2011, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for the United States was the lowest among 28 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.29 28. Average revenue in the U.S. per minute is nearly 70% lower than the averages of 27 other OECD countries.30 29. At year-end 2011, the average U.S. wireless consumer used 945 minutes a month for an average revenue per minute of $0.03. Meanwhile, the average wireless consumer in Europe’s developed countries used 170 minutes a month for an average revenue per minute of $0.11.31 30. Despite having less than 5% of the world’s population and less than 6% of the world’s total wireless subscribers, the U.S. has about 69% of global LTE subscribers.32 31. 3G Technology has been deployed to more than 98% of the U.S. population.33 THE “INTERNET OF THINGS” 32. By 2020, it is projected that there will be more than16 billion M2M devices worldwide, compared to 62 million in 2010.34 33. By 2015, more than 40% of M2M connections in the U.S. will run 3G or faster networks.35 mHEALTH 34. WHO reports 8 in 10 countries are using mHealth, e.g., for help lines, emergency toll-free numbers and telemedicine.36 35. By 2016, there will be more than 100 million wearable wireless sensors, including those designed to promote fitness and wellbeing.37 TRANSPORTATION 36. Fleet Management could reduce carbon emissions by 36.1 million MT CO2, equivalent to annual greenhouse gas emissions from about 6 million passenger vehicles or the energy use of 3 million U.S. homes.38 37. Wireless technology can help reduce the nearly 40% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions coming from transport, from offering real-time information about road conditions so drivers can avoid traffic jams or unnecessary stops to gathering information over time that can be analyzed to improve driving efficiency.39 AGRICULTURE 38. Wireless soil moisture monitors could save up to 6 trillion gallons of water per year by providing precise information needed to properly irrigate crops.40 39. Wireless applications can help optimize cattle grazing pastures by monitoring foraging resources, which can reduce methane gas production by as much as 20%. When multiplied across the 408 million acres of pastureland and 93 million cows in the United States, significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions can be achieved.41 PUBLIC SECTOR 40. Wireless smart traffic applications could reduce CO2 emissions on urban roadways by up to 20%.42 41. Americans consume about 19 million gallons of gas per year and spend $68.4 million simply looking for places to park. Smart bus and parking wireless applications could remove 1.2 million MT of CO2 per year.43 42. For every 5,000 cellphones recycled, 11,000 kilowatt hours of energy are saved.44 43. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recycling one million cell phones saves enough energy to power more than 185 U.S. households with electricity for a year.45 TAXES & FEES 44. The U.S. wireless industry, its direct/indirect employees, and users paid $88.6 billion in federal, state and local taxes and fees.46 45. The average taxes and fees imposed on wireless consumers is more than 16.3%, compared to an average general business tax of 7.4%.47 46. 38 states and the District of Columbia impose state and local taxes and fees higher than those on other taxable goods and services.48 47. Five states have federal, state and local taxes and fees that are in excess of 20%. They are: Nebraska (23.69%); Washington (23%); New York (22.83%); Florida (21.62%); and Illinois (20.90%).49 48. Wireless consumers support E-911 services through a surcharge on their wireless bill. Unfortunately, 7 states raid their E-911 funds to pay for budget shortfalls or to contribute to the state’s general fund. They are Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia.50 UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND (USF) 49. Consumers contribute $8.7 billion to the Universal Service Fund (USF) each year51 with wireless consumers contributing 44%.52 50. In 2011, the average U.S. wireless customer paid $3.10/month in USF fees.53