50 Wireless Quick Facts I

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U.S. WIRELESS INDUSTRY: ECONOMIC IMPACT

1. The wireless industry directly/indirectly employs more than 3.8 million Americans, which accounts for 2.6% of all U.S. employment. In addition, wireless employees are paid 65% higher than the national average for other workers.1

2. The "app" economy employs 519,000 developers and related jobs2 and grew from almost zero to nearly $10 billion in four years.3

3. The top 10 app economy states, ranked by economic impact (per million each year), are: CA ($8,241); WA ($2,671); NY ($2,313); TX ($1,183); MA ($1,143); NJ ($1,087); GA ($1,062); IL ($847); VA ($788); PA ($632).4

4. The U.S. wireless industry is valued at $195.5 billion, which is larger than publishing, agriculture, hotels and lodging, air transportation, motion picture and recording and motor vehicle manufacturing industry segments. It rivals the computer system design service and oil and gas extraction industries.5

5. The economic impact of bringing 500 MHz of spectrum (per the FCC's National Broadband Plan) to market by 2020 is $87 billion increase in U.S. GDP; at least 350,000 new U.S. jobs; additional $23.4 billion in government revenues; and $13.1 billion increase in wireless applications and content sales.6

6. The U.S. wireless industry accounted for $33 billion in productivity improvements for U.S. businesses in nine categories. Over the next 10 years, these efficiency gains will be worth more than $1.4 trillion.7

7. Total private sector jobs fell by 5.3 million between April 2007 and June 2011, but the U.S. wireless industry added almost 1.6 million new jobs in the same time period.8

8. Continued 4G wireless network investments could mean investments of $25 billion to $53 billion, bringing $73 billion to $151 billion in GDP growth and provide 371,000 to 771,000 jobs by 2016.9

9. For every $1 invested in wireless broadband, it will create an additional $7-10 for U.S. GDP.10

10. Mobile Internet advertising was $1.2 billion from Jan-June 2012, which was almost double the $7.7 billion for the same period in 2011.11

11. The global market for wireless accessories was $34 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow to $50.2 billion by 2015.12

12. Businesses spent more than $1.9 billion in 2010 on non-handsets (e.g. tablets, notebooks, e-readers); by 2014, it will be more than $5 billion on non-handsets.13

13. Mobile music revenues were $3.1 billion in 2010 and are projected to reach $5.5 billion by 2015.14

14. U.S. providers reported making capital investments of more than $30 billion from December 2011-December 2012.15 U.S. Wireless invested approximately $94 per subscriber while providers in the rest of the world only spent $16 per subscriber. 16

Last Updated: May 2013

Click here for footnotes
1 Roger Entner, Recon Analytics, The Wireless Industry: The Essential Engine of US Economic Growth (2012), available at http://reconanalytics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wireless-The-Ubiquitous-Engine-by-Recon-Analytics-1.pdf (last visited October 24, 2012).

2 Dr. Michael Mandel and Judith Scherer, South Mountain Economics, LLC., The Geography of the App Economy, 2012, available at http://ctia.it/QQVDnJ (Last visited October 8, 2012).

3 Entner, The Wireless Industry: The Essential Engine, op cit.

4 Dr. Michael Mandel and Judith Scherer, South Mountain Economics, LLC., The Geography of the App Economy, op cit.

5 Entner, The Wireless Industry: The Essential Engine, op cit.

6 Id.

7 Id.

8 Robert J. Shapiro and Kevin A. Hassett, NDN, The Employment Effects of Advances in Internet and Wireless Technology: Evaluating the Transitions from 2G to 3G and from 3G to 4G, Jan. 2012, available at http://ndn.org/sites/default/files/blog_files/The%20Employment%20Effects%20of%20Advances%20In%20Internet%20and%20Wireless%20Technology_1.pdf (last visited October 24, 2012).

9 Deloitte, The Impact of 4G Technology on Commercial Interactions, Economic Growth and U.S. Competitiveness, 2012, available at http://www.deloitte.com/us/impactof4g (Last visited October 24, 2012).

10 Larry Summers, Speaking at the New America Foundation, Technology Opportunities, Job Creation, and Economic Growth, 2010, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nec/speeches/technological-opportunities-job-creation-economic-growth (Last visited October 24, 2012).

11 Interactive Advertising Bureau, Internet Ad Revenues Rise to Historic $17 Billion in First Half 2012, Up 14% Over Half-Year 2011, According to IAB, October 11, 2012, available at http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-101112 (Last visited October 25, 2012).

12 Jessica Ramirez, The Fiscal Times, The Apple Economy: Even Accessories Are a Big Biz, 2011, available at http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/10/18/The-Apple-Economy-Even-Accessories-Are-a-Big-Biz.aspx#page1 (Last visited October 24, 2012).

13 m2m.com, US Business Non-Handset Wireless Spending to Surpass $5 Billion by 2014, Says In-Stat, 2011, available at http://m2m.tmcnet.com/news/2011/03/21/5389813.htm (Last visited October 24, 2012).

14 Ingrid Lunden, PaidContent, Mobile Music: A $5.5 Billion Opportunity For More Than Just Apple, 2011, available at http://paidcontent.org/2011/02/22/419-mobile-music-a-5-5-billion-opportunity-for-more-than-just-apple/ (Last visited October 24, 2012).

15 CTIA-The Wireless Association, CTIA's Wireless Industry Summary Report, Year-End 2012 Results, 2013

16 Emmet Kelly, et al., European Telecoms Matrix Q1 2012, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, (March 30, 2012)