\tData consumption in the US nearly doubled in 2018, increasing from 15.7 trillion MB to more than 28.5 trillion MB, research by industry group CTIA found.<\/p>\n
On average, each smartphone user in the country consumed 6.6GB of data per month, up from 5GB in 2017.<\/p>\n
In a report, CTIA noted the jump in data consumption was also driven by a proliferation of data-only devices including connected cars, smartwatches and health monitors. It found the total number of these devices grew 10 per cent year-on-year to 139.4 million.<\/p>\n
Time spent on voice calls also increased 9.6 per cent to 2.4 trillion minutes, while SMS numbers rose 15.8 per cent to 2 trillion.<\/p>\n
CTIA CEO Meredith Attwell Baker said in a statement the research \u201cunderscores the need to continue to free up spectrum to keep up with demand, and provide the much needed capacity for next-generation 5G networks\u201d.<\/p>\n
Work to expand mobile infrastructure is already underway: CTIA found the number of sites in operation grew 8 per cent year-on-year to 349,344, which it noted is the largest annual increase since 2011, when operators were beginning 4G deployments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Data consumption in the US nearly doubled in 2018, increasing from 15.7 trillion MB to …<\/p>\n
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