CTIA: Annual data revenues grow to $23 billion

The U.S. wireless subscriber market now totals in excess of 255 million--roughly 84 percent of the nation's population--according to new metrics released by industry group CTIA in concert with its CTIA Wireless 2008 event in Las Vegas. According to CTIA, U.S. subscribers now consume more than 2 trillion minutes of airtime a year and send and receive more than 48 billion text messages per month. Combined data revenues now total about $23 billion a year, accounting for 17 percent of total carrier revenue. "These numbers illustrate the incredible volume of traffic carriers successfully manage every day," said CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent during Tuesday's keynote.