CTIA 2020 Annual Survey Highlights

Mobile data usage is at least 96 times higher today than it was just 10 years ago, according to a new report about US wireless industry growth from industry association CTIA. Annual mobile data consumption jumped from 388 billion megabytes (MB) in 2010 to 37.06 trillion MB in 2019. In 2020, the average smartphone user consumed 9.2 GB per month, up from 6.6 GB per month in 2019.

US wireless industry growth is particularly impressive when compared with that of other countries. The researchers note, for example, that capital investment in US wireless networks was $29.1 billion in 2019, or $89 per capita. In comparison, China invests $21.85 per capita. US wireless subscriptions stand at 442.6 million, up more than 20 million from the previous year in a market some see as having reached saturation.