According to the Wireless Industry Association CTIA, Americans used over 100 trillion megabytes of wireless data in 2023.

This figure was up 36 per cent over the prior year in the most significant single-year increase in wireless data consumption.

The increase -- 26 trillion MBs over 2022 -- comes as a growing number of 5G wireless devices are being used. It also shows that claims that 5G died in its crib had been greatly exaggerated.

The survey found that wireless connections rose to 558 million last year, up six per cent from 2022.

Demand for spectrum use is soaring, driven in part by increased wireless use in advancements such as drones, self-driving vehicles, space missions, and precision agriculture.

The survey said the number of minutes Americans spent talking on the phone fell slightly from 2.5 trillion in 2022 to 2.4 trillion in 2023, and text messages were about the same at 2.1 trillion in 2023 over the prior year.

This figure is old and mysteriously released as Congress is at a standoff over how to find a new spectrum.

Congress let the Federal Communications Commission's authority to auction spectrum lapse for the first time in three decades in March 2023 amid debate about what spectrum used by the Defense Department could be repurposed or shared.

CTIA CEO Meredith Attwell Baker said: "To continue to meet the insatiable demand for wireless, drive innovation, and support America’s economic competitiveness, the wireless industry needs access to more full-power, licensed spectrum."