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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:
Courtney Cacatian
Coordinator, Public Affairs
(202) 736-3240
Wireless Quick Facts
Year End Figures
| Topic | Dec-08 | Dec-05 | Dec-00 | Dec-95 |
| Wireless Subscribers | 270.3M | 207.9M | 109.5M | 33.8M |
| Wireless Penetration % of total U.S. population |
87% | 69% | 38% | 13% |
| Wireless-Only Households1 % of U.S. Households |
17.5% | 8.4% | N/A | N/A |
| Direct Carrier Jobs | 268,500 | 233,000 | 184,000 | 68,000 |
| Wireless Carrier Payroll2 Direct Carrier Wages |
$13B | $12.2B | $1.8B | $1.7B |
| Annualized Total Wireless Revenues | $148.1B | $113.5B | $45.3B | $19B |
| Annualized Wireless Data Revenues | $32.3B | $8.5B | $211.2M | N/A |
| Annualized Incremental Capital Investment | $20.1B | $25.2B | $18.4B | $5.1B |
| Annualized Minutes of Use | 2.2T | 1.5T | 533.8B | 431.9M |
| Monthly SMS Messages | 110.4B | 9.8B | 14.4M | N/A |
| Annualized Yearly SMS Messages | 1T | 81B | N/A | N/A |
| Cell Sites | 242,130 | 183,689 | 104,288 | 22,663 |
| E-911 Calls3 Per Day |
291K | 260K | 139K | 55K |
K=Thousand M=Million B=Billion T=Trillion
1Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National
Health Interview Survey, January-July 2008, National Center for Health
Statistics, December 2008.
2BLS Series data, 2007.
3CTIA Wireless 9-1-1 and Distress Calls.
