U.S. Wireless Providers Invested Almost Six Times More Per Subscriber than Rest of World

CTIA-The Wireless Association released its semi-annual survey, which showed U.S. wireless providers increased their annual network investments from $25.3 billion in 2011 to $30.1 billion in 2012 (up 19 percent). The $30.1 billion is the highest amount since the survey began in 1985, which is approximately 25 percent of the world’s total wireless capital expenditures , even though the U.S. has only five percent of the world’s wireless users. The U.S. wireless providers invested approximately $94 per subscriber, compared with $16 per subscriber for the rest of the world. Since 2000, wireless providers invested more than $296 billion, not including the more than $35 billion in spectrum auction revenues paid to the U.S. government.

The year-end 2012 annual survey results:

• Wireless subscriber connections: 326.4 million (102 percent penetration); 2011: 315.9 million (3.3 percent increase).
• Total prepaid / pay-as-you-go subscribers: 76.4 million (23.4 percent of subscribers); 2011: 71.7 million (6.6 percent increase).
• Wireless network data traffic: 1.468 trillion megabytes; 2011: 866.8 billion (69.3 percent increase).
• Active smartphones and wireless-enabled PDAs: 152.1 million; 2011: 111.5 million (36.4 percent increase).
• Wireless-enabled tablets, laptops and modems: 22.3 million; 2011: 20.2 million (10.2 percent increase).
• Minutes of Use (MOU): 2.2999 trillion; 2011: 2.2955 trillion (4.4 billion minute increase or .2 percent).
• SMS sent and received: 2.19 trillion; 2011: 2.3 trillion (4.9 percent decrease).
• MMS sent and received: 74.5 billion; 2011: 52.8 billion (41 percent increase).