Mobile data spending outpaces voice for first time

US consumers spent more on mobile data than on voice for the first time in 2012, an telecommunications group reported, confirming that shifts in how Americans use their phones have reached a long-expected tipping point.

The data point, included in a study released by the Telecommunications Industry of America, is more than a fun fact about the way Americans use their cellphones, said TIA president Grant Seifert, whose group represents network infrastructure for companies such as Cisco, Ericsson and Nokia. Consumers’ increasing appetites for data have brought to a head debates over how the country should use its wireless spectrum, he said. “What this report does is heighten the urgency that we need action,” Seifert said. “We need a clear understanding of what’s going to happen.” Data consumption is expected to continue outpacing voice service, the study said, and it predicted that spending on mobile data will grow from $92.4 billion in 2012 to $118.6 billion in 2013. Spending on voice services, meanwhile, are expected to fall from $92.4 billion to $86.4 billion in the same period of time.