The Cold War may be over but America may be under siege from a new threat.
A new study by the CTIA, the International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications industry, says there are now more cell phones in the United States than there are human beings.
For the first time humans are outnumbered by their mobile phones.
The study found that during the first six months of 2011, wireless subscriptions in the U.S. rose by about 9 percent from the previous year.
The number put an estimated 327.6 million cell phones in the country.
In contrast, the combined population of the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands is around 315 million, according to Engadget.
The wireless industry's annual service revenue was a staggering $164.6 billion in the previous 12 months ending in June 2011.
You can thank Google and Apple for making phones so cool that people just want to buy more.
Other findings from the study showed:
- Wireless subscriber connections: 327.6 million; mid-year 2010: 300.5 million (9 percent increase).
- Wireless network data traffic: 341.2 billion megabytes; mid-year 2010: 161.5 billion megabytes (111 percent increase).
- Average local monthly wireless bill (includes voice and data service): $47.23; mid-year 2010: $47.47 (less than 1 percent decrease).
- Number of active smartphones and wireless-enabled PDAs: 95.8 million; mid-year 2010: 61.2 million (57 percent increase).
- Number of active data-capable devices: 278.3 million; mid-year 2010: 264.5 million (5 percent increase).
- Wireless-enabled tablets, laptops and modems: 15.2 million; mid-year 2010: 12.9 million (17 percent increase).
- Minutes of Use (MOU): 1.148 trillion; mid-year 2010: 1.138 trillion (1 percent increase)
- SMS sent and received: 1.138 trillion; mid-year 2010: 982.9 billion (16 percent increase).
- MMS sent and received: 28.2 billion; mid-year 2010: 32.1 billion.
