Wireless-phone subscriptions in the United States grew by 25.7 million in 2005, reaching just under 208 million, according to The Wireless Association.
The record growth for the 12-month period contributed to a 14-percent increase over 2004, when wireless subscriptions barely topped 182 million.
The association noted a major surge in the use of short message service and text messaging -- nearly 49 billion messages sent in the six months ending in December, a 97-percent increase over the last six months of 2004, when 24.7 billion messages were sent.
Association President Steve Largent cited consumer awareness of the advantages of wireless as fueling the boom.
"The mobile communications revolution is in full swing, and now nearly 70 percent of America is taking part in it," Largent said during a presentation at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
Stop Big Brother listening in to your mobile phone conversation
A team of University of Surrey scientists led by Professor Ahmet Kondoz has developed new technology which will enable companies and organisations to ensure that their
GSM mobile phone conversations are totally secure and confidential. Previous attempts to make such conversations totally secure have been successful, but relied on a special GSM data service which resulted in some operational problems. In particular these solutions require expensive dedicated handsets and subscriptions, and calls between different countries could be unreliable. The UniS system is the first true end-to-end secure GSM system which does not rely on this special GSM data service, but rather uses the standard GSM voice service.
Verizon Wireless gets Rhapsody music subscriptions
(AP) -- Cell phones are becoming more useful devices for listening to music. Verizon Wireless is introducing Rhapsody's subscription music service Monday, allowing its customers to download as much music as they want to their phones for $15 per month.
Cooperative system could wipe out car alarm noise
The persistent, annoying blare of an ignored car alarm may become a sound of the past if a cooperative, mutable and silent network of monitors proposed by Penn State researchers is deployed in automobiles and parking lots.
Professor studies what cars can learn from drivers' words
Years ago, Stanford communication and sociology researcher Clifford Nass wondered why some people treated their computers as humans, instead of machines, a question that led him down a path of interesting research. Now he wonders about drivers willing to have personal conversations with the artificial voice in their cars—and what will become of the secrets the humans share with their four-wheeled friends.
Swiss researchers test high-speed WLAN network
According to the communication theory, only a limited amount of data can be transmitted within a given bandwidth for wireless communication. Ever since these limits were revealed 60 years ago, we have been trying to reach the boundaries determined by physics as efficiently as possible. In light of the growing significance of cellular phone networks and WLAN connections, scientists are seeking new ways to transfer more data than ever before – after all, transmission capacities are in short supply and, therefore, a valuable commodity.
Princeton researchers envision a more secure Internet
Like human society itself, the world's computerized infrastructure is wondrously complex, both spectacularly fertile and deeply flawed.
Fraudsters beware: Iowa State engineer is developing cyber technology to find you
Yong Guan had scribbled 12 arrows across his office whiteboard, each black line going from one little box he had drawn to another little box. He had written five long formulas up there, too. And that was bad news for cyber criminals.
New Technology Combines GPS Benefits with Privacy Protection
As GPS and other wireless location-based technologies are becoming prevalent on cell phones and other everyday devices, two researchers are thinking about the social reaction to constant surveillance. As George Orwell envisioned, a world in which everyone is being watched opens the doors for privacy abuse and totalitarian control.