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1 trillion text messages sent in 2008: CTIA carrier survey

Wireless revenues showed impressive year-to year gains, as wireless data service revenues for the year rose to more than $32 billion.

This represents a 39 percent increase over 2007, when data revenues totaled $23.2 billion.

Wireless data revenues for 2008 amounted to nearly 22 percent of all wireless service revenues and represent what consumers spend on non-voice services.

The survey results indicate that mobile broadband services are enabling more Americans to grow their world like never before.

The Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey is completely voluntary and thus does not yield a 100 percet response rate from all service providers.

However, the CTIA claims the survey has an excellent response rate. For the Dec. 31, installment of the semi-annual survey, CTIA received responses from companies serving 96.1 percent of wireless subscribers.

The information solicited from the service providers includes: direct employment, number of cell sites, total service revenues, roaming revenues as a subset of total service revenues, the average local monthly bill, and the average length of call.

Wireless technology is an integral part of everyday life for more than 87percent of the American population

Wireless technology is changing and improving the way consumers connect and interact with the world around them.

According to the survey, text messaging continues to be enormously popular, with more than 1 trillion text messages carried on carriers' networks in 2008 -- breaking down to more than 3.5 billion messages per day.

That's almost triple the number from 2007, when 363 billion text messages were transmitted.

Wireless subscribers are also sending more pictures and other multi-media messages with their mobile devices, with 15 billion MMS messages reported for 2008, up from 6 billion the year before.

As of December 2008, the survey recorded more than 270 million wireless users. This represents a year-over-year increase of nearly 15 million subscribers.

The industry's 12-month record for subscriber growth was reached in 2005, when 25.7 million new users came online.