CTIA - Amazing subscriber statistics

The U.S. wireless industry expanded to 270 million total subscribers at the end of 2008, a 15 million year-over-year increase, according to CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent.

Speaking yesterday at the industry organization's annual CTIA Wireless event, Largent said that U.S. subscribers spent a combined 2.2 trillion minutes on their mobile devices last year, a 100 billion minute increase over 2007.

In addition, U.S. consumers sent 1 trillion text messages, almost tripling the previous year's SMS traffic. "Our industry is vibrant--a shining light in an unfortunately troubled time," Largent said.