History of Wireless Communications
From Building the Wireless Future® to Expanding the Wireless Frontier™

1800's | 1900's | 2000's
2000
  • Wireless subscribership in America exceeds 100 million.
  • Digital wireless users outnumber analog subscribers
  • Nearly 1 million Americans directly or indirectly employed by wireless. (Jobs in the wireless industry pay wages that are approximately 78% higher than the national average.)
  •   The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association™ merges with the  Wireless Data Forum to become the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association™
  • Camera phones introduced in Japanese market.

2001

  • The average wireless consumer uses his or her phone for 320 minutes per month.
  • November 8, FCC votes to raise CMRS spectrum limits for individual carriers from 45 MHz to 55 MHz, and subsequently eliminate cap in January 2003.

2002

  • FCC awards 90 MHz of additional spectrum for advanced wireless services. 
  • Delivery of digital wireless data and voice enhanced networks (2.5G)
  • October 13, 2003: 20th Anniversary of Commercial Wireless Communications.

2004

  • Subscribership reaches over 180 million.
  • The Celluar Telecommunications & Internet Association™ changes it name to CTIA-The Wireless Association™


Yes! You can recycle your wireless device. All wireless phones and their accessories are recyclable. CTIA and its member companies have established Wireless…The New Recyclable™, a national voluntary recycling program for wireless devices and accessories.

To learn more click here.