CTIA is the International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry, Dedicated to Expanding the Wireless Frontier



Is your curiosity satisfied yet? If not, find an even wider array of facts and figures from the world of wireless in our 100 Wireless Facts!


Public Affairs Contact Info:

Emerald Stewart                              
Coordinator, Public Affairs
(202) 736-3252

Wireless Quick Facts
Mid-Year Figures



Topic Jun-09 Jun-05 Jun-00 Jun-95
Wireless Subscribers 276.6M 194.4M 97M 28.1M
Wireless Penetration
% of total U.S. population
89% 66% 34% 11
Wireless-Only Households1
% of U.S. Households
20.20% 7.70% N/A N/A
Direct Carrier Jobs 261,453 225,162 159,645 60,689
Wireless Carrier Payroll2
Direct Carrier Wages
$14.3B $12.2B $1.8B $1.7B
Annualized Total Wireless Revenues $151.2B $108.5B $45.3B $16.5B
Annualized Wireless Data Revenues $37B $8.5B $139.4M N/A
Annualized Incremental Capital Investment $19.5B $19.8B $9.9B $5.6B
Annualized Minutes of Use 2.23T 1.26T 194.95B 31.5B
Monthly SMS Messages 135.2B 7.2B 12.2M N/A
Annualized Yearly SMS Messages 1.36T 57.2B N/A N/A
Cell Sites 245,912 178,025 95,733 19,844
E-911 Calls3
Per Day
296K 260K 139K 55K


  K=Thousand             M=Million                B=Billion                 T=Trillion


1Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, July-December
   2008, National Center for Health Statistics, May 2009.

2BLS Series data, 2008.

3
CTIA Wireless 9-1-1 and Distress Calls.