2025 Annual Survey Highlights

Wireless Data Use Surges

Americans used 132T megabytes of data last year, shattering the 100T MB record set just the previous year. This record amount of data was driven by a 32T MB year-over-year increase, the single largest jump in U.S. history. Americans are using more and more 5G data at home, on the road, and to drive innovation across industries, from healthcare to transportation, manufacturing, and beyond.

And the annual growth in demand shows no sign of slowing. In fact, for the third straight year, demand grew roughly 35%, a pace that would nearly double the amount of data used every two years. This record growth highlights why Congress's direction to auction 800 megahertz of new spectrum is so critical.

Wireless Investment Fuels 5G Network Growth

The mobile industry invests tens of billions of dollars every year building, upgrading, and maintaining wireless networks, and have averaged over $30B annually over the entire decade. We are proud to be one of the two biggest investors in the U.S. Last year, wireless providers again invested $29B. America's free market policies are key to encouraging this level of investment. Last year, America's wireless providers spent nearly double the amount of their EU counterparts per capita, and that's why modernizing regulation with a national framework is so vital.

Americans Flock to 5G

Wireless is integral to the fabric of modern society, driving unprecedented growth as they connect more people and devices. Last year, U.S. wireless connections grew again, now reaching 579M-that's 1.7 connections for every person.

5G devices now make up nearly half of these connections, up from 39% the previous year. Ranging from smartwatches and smartphones to environmental sensors and autonomous robots, more than 259M 5G devices blanketed the nation last year, an increase of 43M over the previous year.

Wireless Prices Continue to Drop

As consumers use more data, wireless data continues to cost less, even as the cost of many other consumer goods and services steadily increase.

Over the last four years, Americans have seen significant increases in prices for goods and services like food, utilities, and new vehicles. Meanwhile, the cost of wireless service has decreased, and the cost of smartphones has decreased by more than 50%. Providing value to consumers is a key part of the wireless industry's success.

More Americans Choose 5G to Connect at Home

When it comes to internet at home, America continues to embrace 5G fixed wireless access as a welcome alternative to cable. For the third year in a row, 99% of new home broadband subscribers chose 5G, as consumers overwhelmingly prefer wireless choices. In fact, net cable subscriptions decreased by more than a million last year, while 5G home subscribership increased by nearly 3.7M. Overall, our market penetration has expanded rapidly, growing to nearly 12M subscribers by the end of last year, and projected to increase 1.7x by 2028. The only thing holding back this popular product is more full-power licensed spectrum.

Building More Cell Sites to Support Unprecedented Demand

Meeting America's unprecedented growth in wireless demand is done, in part, by deploying additional cell sites. The FCC reformed siting rules for small cells in the first Trump Administration. Those rules have translated into 110% growth in small cells since 2018. The FCC and states have the opportunity to further modernize laws and processes that govern siting of wireless facilities, helping to expedite further investment. Thanks to almost $30 billion invested, we saw over 15,000 new cell towers activated in 2024, and with the FCC's help, we can further densify and expand our 15,000 world-class infrastructure.

Talking and Texting Increase by Billions

Americans' wireless use doesn't stop at streaming and using data. We exchanged nearly 42B more messages and used nearly 30B more voice minutes last year than the year before. In total, Americans exchanged nearly 2.2T SMS and MMS text messages last year, more than any other year besides 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, Americans are using their voices more to keep in touch-they collectively spent over 2.4T minutes talking on the phone.