Chicago: Mobile phone users in the US
sent a staggering 1.5 trillion text messages in 2009, with an
average of five billion messages sent out per day in the
second half of last year, according to data from a wireless
industry trade group.
In its semi-annual survey, CTIA-The Wireless
Association said text messaging continues to be enormously
popular, with more than 822 billion text messages sent and
received on carriers` networks during the last half of
2009?amounting to almost five billion messages per day at the
end of the year.
"During the 2009 calendar year, there were more than
1.5 trillion text messages reported on carriers` networks," it
said.
Wireless subscribers also sent more pictures and other
multimedia messages with their mobile devices.
Over 24.2 billion MMS messages were reported for the
last half of 2009, more than double the number from the
previous year, when only 9.3 billion were reported for the
last half of 2008.
"With wireless connections now equal to more than 91
per cent of the US population, mobile broadband is pivotal to
ensuring all Americans are digitally literate.
The wireless ecosystem is constantly reinventing
itself, and other industries, to be more productive and
efficient," president and CEO of CTIA Steve Largent said.
As of December 2009, the industry survey recorded more
than 285 million wireless connections, a year-over-year
increase of more than 15 million.
Largent added that mobile broadband would increasingly
play a vital role in people`s lives.
Further, there are now more than 257 million
data-capable devices in consumers` hands, up from 228 million
at the end of 2008.
Fifty million of these devices are smart phones or
wireless-enabled PDAs and nearly 12 million are
wireless-enabled laptops, notebooks or aircards.
According to the survey, wireless customers used more
than 1.12 trillion minutes in the last half of 2009, up 38
billion from the same period a year ago.
This was 6.1 billion minutes-of-use per day.
Wireless service revenues for the last half of 2009
amounted to almost USD 77 billion, up from a little more than
USD 75 billion in the last half of 2008.
The semi-annual survey results highlight the
industry`s continued positive economic impact and growth in
the United States, CTIA said.
In particular, wireless data service revenues
increased 25.7 per cent from the last half of 2008 to reach
more than USD 22 billion for the last half of 2009.
Wireless data revenues, which represent what consumers
spend on non-voice services, were more than 28 per cent of all
wireless service revenues.
PTI
