Categories
Close
Menu
Menu
Close
Search
Search

Featured Articles

News

US mobile data usage doubles within a year

Mark

Share:

Print

Rate article:

No rating
Rate this article:
No rating

Wireless communications trade organisation CTIA-The Wireless Association has found that mobile data usage exceeded 1.1 trillion MB from July 2011 to June 2012, a 104% increase from the previous 12 months. Its new survey also revealed that 41% of the country’s mobile connections are currently smartphones and approaching 17% are tablet devices.

There are now 321.7 million mobile connections in the USA, the equivalent of 101% mobile penetration. Most of these are ‘pay monthly’ tariffs although 23.3% of subscribers now have prepaid accounts; a 10% increase from the previous year.

Other key figures are:

  • Number of active data-capable devices: 300.4 million (up 8% year-on-year)
  • Number of wireless-enabled tablets, laptops and modems: 21.6 million (up 42% year-on-year)
  • Minutes of Use: 2.321 trillion (up 3% year-on-year)
  • SMS text messages sent and received: 2.273 trillion (up 3% year-on-year)
  • MMS sent and received: 58.3 billion (up 10.6% year-on-year)
  • Average local monthly wireless bill (includes voice, data and text): $47.16 (down 0.2% year-on-year)
  • Number of cell sites: 285,561 nationwide (up 11% year-on-year)

Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA, said “As our survey proves, today’s wireless industry offers consumers not only the world’s best products and services, but also the best value. Americans are using more voice, data and text than ever before, but are paying less for their wireless usage than even a year ago. Thanks to the fiercely competitive wireless industry, consumers have a variety of choices from which provider to contract or prepaid plans to devices. With the persistent increase in usage, this survey is another proof point for why our members need more spectrum to meet consumer demands. We appreciate the FCC’s NPRM [Notice of Proposed Rulemaking] on the incentive auction of broadcast television spectrum and hope that it’s brought to market quickly so that our members may continue to innovate and invest in our nation’s economy.”

[Full report]

Comments

Collapse Expand Comments (0)
You don't have permission to post comments.

Opinion Articles

ExclusiveTurn your radio on

Mark Bridge writes:

There was great news for some BlackBerry owners this week. The new 10.2.1 update to the BlackBerry 10 OS was released, offering a new incoming call screen, SMS and email groups, more options for locking and unlocking, extra battery usage information, enterprise features and - for customers with a BlackBerry Z30, BlackBerry Q10 or BlackBerry Q5 smartphone - an FM radio.

ExclusiveIs Android losing its impact for Google?

Mark Bridge writes:

Recent figures released by ABI Research have prompted the market intelligence company to ask whether Google is losing control of the Android ecosystem.

At first glance, Android dominated smartphone shipments for the final quarter of 2013. ABI Research says 77% of the 287 million smartphones shipped in Q4 2013 were running Android.

ExclusiveIt’s time to prepare for the upcoming surge in signaling traffic

Robin Kent writes:

After initially suffering from slow pick up by consumers, 4G has begun to accelerate, and is now well on the way to the forecasted one billion subscribers by 2017. In fact EE, owner of T-Mobile and Orange, recently announced the addition of 493,000 new 4G customers to its existing base of 1.2 million.

ExclusiveMobile phone coverage: is this as good as it gets?

Mark Bridge writes:

A new report has highlighted the issue of poor mobile phone coverage in rural Sussex villages. BBC Sussex invited me onto their ‘Sussex Breakfast’ radio show to explain what could be done - and, as usual, I made enough notes for a lecture rather than a three-minute interview.

Here’s what I would have liked to have said if I’d been given a disproportionate amount of time to talk.

ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 27th January 2014

Mark Bridge writes:

Great news for mobile phone users. Ofcom’s new rules preventing unexpected mid-contract price rises came into force last week, which means UK consumers can no longer be surprised by their subscription charge increasing while they’re still locked into a minimum-term deal.

RSS
First567810121314Last

Recent Podcasts

ExclusivePodcast from Mobile World Congress 2015

Mark Bridge learns about the mobile technology trends at Mobile World Congress 2015 by chatting to James Rosewell of 51Degrees, Dr Kevin Curran from the IEEE and Chris Millington of Doro.

They talk about wearable devices, wireless charging, mobile operating systems and much more... including some of their favourite products from the exhibition.

ExclusiveLooking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

We also talk about the planned BT and EE merger, the creation of two new UK virtual networks, some acquisitions in the mobile payment arena and a new Ubuntu smartphone.

ExclusiveA month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.

RSS
1234567810Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Archive Calendar

«August 2026»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
272829303112
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31123456

Archive