CTIA® released its annual survey results, which found Americans used 9.6 trillion megabytes (MB) of mobile data in 2015, three times the 3.2 trillion MB in 2013. This is the equivalent of consumers streaming 59,219 videos every minute or roughly 18 million MB:
Smartphones are the number one wireless device in the U.S. and still growing
- There were more than 228 million smartphones, which was up almost 10 percent from 2014. 70 percent of the population now owns a smartphone.
- There were more than 41 million tablets on wireless networks, up 16 percent from 2014.
Smartphones are the number one wireless device in the U.S. and still growing
- Americans talked more than 2.8 trillion minutes on their mobile phones, up more than 17 percent from 2014.
- Americans exchanged more than 2.1 trillion texts, videos and photo messages, or more than four million every minute.
To handle the increase in devices and usage, America’s wireless carriers invested almost $32 billion in 2015, including adding almost 10,000 new cell sites. Since 2010, carriers have invested more than $177 billion to improve their coverage and capacity to better serve all Americans.
“Americans today have mobile-first lives. In 2014, we had a record amount of data on our 4G networks. Remarkably, the amount of traffic on mobile networks more than doubled last year and shows no signs of slowing down. I’m proud our industry invested more than $30 billion to keep up with our demand and support millions of jobs. Our record growth also highlights the continued need for a national focus on making more spectrum available to the mobile industry,” said Meredith Attwell Baker, President and CEO, CTIA.
| Mobile Trends in the United States, 2014-2015 | |||
| 2014 | 2015 | The Delta | |
| Subscribers | 355.4 million | 377.9 million | +6.3% |
| Smartphones | 208.1 million | 228.3 million | +9.7% |
| Data Traffic | 4.1 trillion MB | 9.6 trillion MB | +137.6% |
| Minutes of Use | 2.5 trillion | 2.8 trillion | +17.4% |
| SMS/MMS traffic | 2.07 trillion | 2.11 trillion | +1.7% |
| Incremental Capital investment | $32.0 billion | $31.9 billion | -0.3% |
| Cumulative Capex | $430.6 billion | $462.6 billion | N/A |
CTIA® (www.ctia.org) represents the U.S. wireless communications industry. With members from wireless carriers and their suppliers to providers and manufacturers of wireless data services and products, the association brings together a dynamic group of companies that enable consumers to lead a 21st century connected life. CTIA members benefit from its vigorous advocacy at all levels of government for policies that foster the continued innovation, investment and economic impact of America’s competitive and world-leading mobile ecosystem. The association also coordinates the industry’s voluntary best practices and initiatives and convenes the industry’s leading wireless tradeshow. CTIA was founded in 1984 and is based in Washington, D.C.
http://www.ctia.org/resource-library/press-releases/archive/americans-data-usage-more-than-doubled-in-2015