The latest study from the CTIA - The Wireless Association, a non-profit trade organization that represents the wireless communications industry, found wireless data usage across the United States increased the most it ever has in a single year in 2023.

The association published its 2024 Annual Wireless Industry Survey, which states Americans consumed an astonishing 100 trillion megabytes of wireless data throughout 2023, which is 100 billion gigabytes for those who don't want to manually do the conversion. The CTIA states in its survey that last year was the single largest increase it has seen in wireless data usage over a year, with Americans consuming 36% more data compared to the year prior, and nearly double the data in 2021.

The CTIA also found there was a sharp increase in the number of devices that are 5G compatible, which the association attributes to the skyrocketing rise in wireless data usage. According to the survey, nearly 40% of all wireless devices had a 5G connection in 2023, an increase of 34% compared to 2022. In total, there are 558 million wireless connections in the US, which means for every single American, there are 1.6 wireless connections. How? Wireless connections can count for devices such as smartphones, watches, tablets, etc

Additionally, the survey states that 330 million Americans are covered by one or more 5G networks.