CTIA’s annual report is out and it comes as Congress returns to Washington, D.C. and lawmakers potentially take up legislation related to U.S. competitiveness with China concerning 5G spectrum. Here are key takeaways on the state of telecom:
- Wireless Networks Continue to Support Skyrocketing Data Demand. Americans used more than 100 trillion megabytes (MB) in 2023—the largest single-year increase in wireless data ever. This is nearly double the amount of data used just two years ago, and more data than was used from 2010 to 2018 combined, according to CTIA.
- More Wireless Connections and 5G Devices. In 2023, nearly 40 percent of all wireless devices had a 5G connection, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. This growth helped propel the total number of wireless connections to 558 million, more than 1.6 wireless connections for every American
- Wireless Investment Tops $700 billion. Wireless carriers have invested $705 billion to date, including $30 billion in the last year and $190 billion since 2018, the year 5G was launched. Over its lifetime, the wireless industry has also invested $233 billion at auction for licensed spectrum.
- Wireless Costs Less While Consumers Use More. The cost per MB of wireless data decreased 50 percent since 2020, bucking the overall upward trends in pricing for other consumer goods and services over the same period. At $.002 per MB today, wireless data prices have decreased 97 percent compared to a decade ago.
Reader Interactions