The US wireless industry alone produced $825 billion in GDP, nearly four million employees, and US$1.3 trillion in the gross domestic product in 2020.
According to a recent report, the US wireless industry generated over 4.5 million employment in 2020 alone and provided $825 billion to the US economy.
Compass Lexecon was hired by the US wireless trade association CTIA to develop The Importance of Licensed Spectrum and Wireless Telecommunications to the American Economy. The data also reveals that the wireless sector gave the American economy a GDP boost of roughly US$5.4 trillion during the previous ten years.
Aren Megerdichian, Executive Vice President, Compass Lexecon, states that “this analysis demonstrates that the wireless industry is a major driver of America’s economy.” The US economy has reaped major benefits from the significant expenditures made by wireless companies in both their network infrastructure and the acquisition of spectrum licenses.
According to the report, during the past ten years, wireless service providers have spent more than $265 billion on building out their networks’ infrastructure, and the US government has received US$155 billion in auction proceeds from spectrum sales involving wireless services.
It will be crucial to hold more licensed spectrum auctions
According to Megerdichian, “it is vital to allow mobile network operators access to dedicated, licensed spectrum for the cellular industry to continue to provide these enormous, widespread good effects to the American economy.” Additional licensed spectrum auctions will be crucial as operators continue to try to meet the rising demand for mobile broadband.
According to CTIA President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker, “The wireless industry is driving the US economy, and this report underlines its substantial contributions to our GDP and support of American jobs.” “Other nations have plans to make sizable amounts of licensed spectrum accessible for 5G since they recognize the benefits of it.
To keep sustaining the American economy, the US needs a pipeline of licensed spectrum for exclusive use rather than experimenting with unproven ideas.”
These trillions of dollars in output and millions of jobs, according to the report’s authors, come from the direct effects of the core wireless industry (which includes mobile network operators and resellers), as well as the secondary effects of the wireless supply chain and a few downstream market segments that heavily rely on wireless and mobile broadband services, such as smartphone app developers, search engines, digital advertising agencies, mobile gaming, and social networking.
According to them, “it does not account for the contributions made by other industries that also rely on and utilize wireless services, which may represent hundreds of billions in additional gross output and GDP, as well as millions of employment.” Therefore, the estimates given in this study are a starting point or lower bound for the economic contributions produced by industries associated with wireless technology in the United States.
