CTIA: Data drives U.S. wireless to $141 million

By Robert Keenan
iApplianceWeb
(03/19/03, 03:52:52 PM EDT)

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Despite a struggling economy, the U.S. wireless sector continued to grow, reaching a subscriber base worth approximately $141 million by the end of 2002, according to figures released by CTIA at the Wireless 2003 conference here.

In the first of its two updates for the year, CTIA provided members with a rosy report on the status of the wireless industry. In December 2001, CTIA estimated the U.S. subscriber base was worth $128 million. By making the leap to $141 million range in 2002, a 10-percent increase, CTIA President Tom Wheeler said the wireless sector is emerging as a bright spot in the U.S. telecommunications market.

An increase in data services could be one of the big reasons for the uptick. "For the last six months of 2002, the U.S. wireless industry did almost $50 million in non-voice revenue," said Tim Donahue, chairman of CTIA's board of directors and president and CEO of Nextel. "From December 2001 to December 2002, data revenue grew 33 percent."

Adoption of short message services (SMS) contributed to the growth. CTIA reported that the amount of SMS messages reached 1 billion. In June 2001, there were only 30 million SMS sessions. By hitting the 1 billion mark, the sector has achieved a 3000-fold increase in one service, Wheeler said.

With data revenues and the number of subscribers increasing, carriers are also starting to see increases in minutes of use and average monthly bills. CTIA said the total number of billable minutes reached 619 billion, up 35 percent from the 456 billion reported in 2001. CTIA also reported that the average monthly bill rose to $48.40, up more than $1 from the year before.

CTIA's report, Wireless Industry Indices: 1985-2003, includes data on prepaid and toll revenues, subscriber usage and investment.

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