According to a new study from CTIA, American mobile users have consumed 1.1 trillion megabytes between July 2011 and June 2012. That’s a massive increase of 104 percent over last year’s 568 million megabytes. All this data consumption must mean people are using mobile devices a lot more, right? Surprisingly, that is not the case. The study found that mobile use only rose three percent over the last year.

So, what’s causing the increase in data? A number of factors seem to be at play here. For one, MMS message use is on the rise. The regular SMS text message is still the king with 2.273 trillion text messages sent over the last year, but mobile users sent a combined 58.3 billion MMS messages over the last year. That’s a 10.6 percent increase over last year.

The CTIA also attributes the growth to increases in cell sites around the country. They found that wireless carriers have added 28,641 cell sites over the last year for a total of 285,561. The carriers are also upgrading more of their 3G networks to 4G. This only further encourages more data use as more people have access to faster networks for streaming video, music, and other data intensive services.

“As our survey proves, today’s wireless industry offers consumers not only the world’s best products and services, but also the best value. Americans are using more voice, data and text than ever before, but are paying less for their wireless usage than even a year ago. Thanks to the fiercely competitive wireless industry, consumers have a variety of choices from which provider to contract or prepaid plans to devices,” said Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA. “With the persistent increase in usage, this survey is another proof point for why our members need more spectrum to meet consumer demands. We appreciate the FCC’s NPRM on the incentive auction of broadcast television spectrum and hope that its brought to market quickly so that our members may continue to innovate and invest in our nation’s economy.”

As Largent points out above, the continued growth of mobile data consumption is becoming increasingly reliant on carriers buying up more spectrum. At its current growth, mobile data consumption could eat through the amount of available spectrum in just a few years. Wireless carriers will need to buy up more spectrum to provide the necessary bandwidth that users expect.

You can check out a preview of the CTIA’s report here. They also have the full survey available for purchase if that’s your thing.

This represents a 39 percent increase over 2007, when data revenues totaled $23.2 billion. Wireless data revenues for 2008 amounted to nearly 22 percent of all wireless service revenues, and represent what consumers spend on non-voice services.

"The new survey results clearly prove that mobile broadband services are enabling more Americans to grow their world like never before. Wireless technology is an integral part of everyday life for more than 87% of the U.S. population; changing and improving the way we connect and interact with the world around us," said Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA -The Wireless Association

. "The wireless industry consistently evolves, innovates, competes and grows every year at a rapid pace, and 2008 has carried on this remarkable trend."

Text messaging continues to be popular, with more than one trillion text messages carried on carriers’ networks in 2008 amounting to more than 3.5 billion messages per day. That’s nearly triple the number from 2007, when 363 billion text messages were sent.  Wireless subscribers are also sending more multi-media messages with their mobile devices, with 15 billion MMS messages reported in 2008, up from 6 billion the year before.

As of December 2008, the industry recorded more than 270 million wireless users. This represents a year -over-year increase of almost 15 million subscribers. The 12-month record for subscriber growth was reached in 2005, when 25.7 million new users came online.

Wireless customers used more than 2.2 trillion minutes in 2008, an increase of 100 billion minutes from 2007, and a record six-month wireless service revenues of more than $75 billion with annual service revenues reaching $148 billion by the end of the year.

"For months, wireless carriers have been working hard to prepare for what could be an unprecedented Inauguration week," said Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association.

Steve Largent
President & CEO
CTIA

"Companies are going to extraordinary lengths investing significant amounts of time and money, and are doing everything within their power to boost network capacities in Washington, D.C. for this historic event."

To prepare for the crowds and huge spikes in wireless traffic, carriers are adding more technicians to monitor their networks and work with government agencies involved in the Inauguration events.

They are also taking steps to address capacity issues, including adding new radio channels to augment existing cell sites, provisioning additional portable sites and enhancing in – building wireless coverage at key locations throughout Washington, D.C.

"Despite all the industry’s efforts to increase network capacity, it’s really important for the public to understand that unusually large crowds can generate congestion and communications delays," Largent continued.  "Think of a wireless network like a highway.  Even though we’re building more lanes, if millions of people jump on the road at the same time, there could be a traffic jam."

"For this reason, we want to remind Inaugural event attendees to do their part in decreasing network demand by texting instead of placing voice calls, and holding off on sending cell phone pictures or video until after the events are over."  

Wireless data revenues now account for 20 percent of all wireless service revenues, and represent money that people spend on non-voice services.

The survey found that text messaging again set new records, with 75 billion messages reported in the month of June, an average of about 2.5 billion messages a day. This is an increase of 160 percent over the 28.8 billion messages in June 2007.

Wireless subscribers continue to capture and send more pictures and other multi-media messages, more than 5.6 billion MMS messages in the first half of 2008, almost as many as were sent in all of 2007.

As of June 2008, there were more than 262 million wireless users. This is a year-over-year increase of close to 20 million subscribers. The 12-month record for subscriber growth was reached in 2005, when 25.7 million new users came online.

Wireless customers used more than 1.12 trillion minutes in the first half of 2008, up 10.9 percent over the first half of 2007, and generated more than $72 billion in total wireless revenue in six months.

"These statistics prove that wireless service in today’s marketplace means so much more to American consumers than just voice-calls," said Steve Largent, CTIA-The Wireless Association President and CEO.

"More and more people are using wireless devices to access the Internet, take photos, get directions, watch videos, download music and send text messages. But this is just the beginning. When wireless customers want even more from their handsets and networks, the industry will continue to respond, evolve, innovate, and deliver to meet this growing demand."