CTIA -The Wireless Association announced the results of its semi-annual industry survey, showing positive results for the industry, as there were impressive gains in wireless revenues on a year-over-year basis. In 2008, the wireless data service revenues went up to $32 billion, which marked a 39 percent increase over the previous year, when the revenues were of $23.2 billion. At the same time, it seems that wireless data revenues for the last year accounted for 22 percent of all wireless service revenues, showing what users spent for non-voice services in that time frame.

“The new survey results clearly prove that mobile broadband services are enabling more Americans to grow their world like never before. Wireless technology is an integral part of everyday life for more than 87% of the U.S. population; changing and improving the way we connect and interact with the world around us,” said Steve Largent, president & CEO of CTIA -The Wireless Association. “The wireless industry consistently evolves, innovates, competes and grows every year at a rapid pace, and 2008 has carried on this remarkable trend.”

The survey also showed that text messaging was a rather popular activity, as there were more than 3.5 billion messages sent every day in 2008. Compared to 2007, the amount tripled, as 363 billion text messages were transmitted that year, with more than one trillion messages last year. The survey also shows that wireless subscribers are now sending more pictures or other multi-media messages through their mobile phones, as a number of 15 billion MMS messages were sent last year, compared to 6 billion reported for the previous one.

In December 2008, the survey recorded more than 270 million wireless users. Compared to 2007, this number shows a year-over-year growth of around 15 million subscribers. The highest number registered during a 12-month period was reported in 2005, with 25.7 million new users coming online. The new survey also showed that more than 2.2 trillion minutes were used in 2008, marking an increase of over 100 billion minutes compared to 2007. The annual service revenues for 2008 reached $148 billion, with a six-month wireless service revenue record of $75 billion. More info on this can be found here.