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In a nutshell: Wireless data usage has hit an all-time high and there is no evidence to suggest the explosive growth will slow anytime soon. According to the CTIA's annual wireless industry survey, wireless networks served a staggering 100 trillion megabytes of data in 2023. That is an 89 percent increase compared to 2021, and is more data than was used from 2010 to 2018 combined.
CTIA, the trade organization representing the US wireless industry, said the additional 26 trillion MBs used last year is a 36 percent increase over 2022 and is the largest single-year increase in wireless data ever. It is also enough data for every household in the country to watch the first season of House of the Dragon daily for an entire year.
By 2029, Ericsson predicts that Americans' data usage could increases by more than three times the current rate.
The continued proliferation of 5G networks is helping to drive growth as well. The CTIA said that by the end of 2023, nearly 40 percent of all wireless connections – including smartphones, IoT devices, and wearables – were 5G and that more than 330 million Americans were covered by at least one 5G network. The total number of wireless connections reached 558 million, or more than 1.6 connections for each American.
The trend is only expected to increase in the coming years as network operators pump even more money into the system. The industry collectively invested $30 billion in 2023 to improve their networks, pushing the total US wireless industry spend to more than $700 billion to date ($190 billion of which has come since 2018). A total of 432,469 cell sites were in operation across the country at the end of 2023, an increase of 24 percent since 2018.
Wireless data is also more affordable now than it ever has been. The cost per MB has dropped 50 percent since 2020 and 97 percent versus a decade ago, down to just $.002 per MB.
Image credit: Frederik Lipfert