On April 29 CTIA issued the latest results from its regular survey of the price of wireless broadband coverage. The bottom line is that wireless prices continue to fall significantly even as most elements of the Consumer Price Index are increasing. Even with lower prices, wireless plans are delivering faster speeds, more data, and better service. CTIA attributes this history to a combination of spectrum auctions, market competition, and continual innovation.
CTIA’s Wireless Affordability Tracker is the result of surveys of unlimited and more affordable prepaid plans as well as government data. It shows that the average real price of post-paid unlimited plans fell 10% last year and nearly 35% over the last 5 years. More affordable prepaid plans fell by 2.6% last year and 50% over the last two years.
According to the Consumer Price Index the real price of wireless service fell by 6.6% last year and by 41% over the last decade. The price of smart phones fell by 12.2% last year and 63.4% over the last ten years. This is in contrast to the overall CPI, which increased by 2.7% last year and 37% over a decade. Between 2020 and 2024 the share of spending devoted to wireless subscriptions fell by 15.2% so that it now makes up only 1.73% of the average consumer’s total spending.
Unfortunately, taxes have risen. On average, taxes make up 27.6% of the monthly wireless bill. But for increasing taxes on wireless services, the price declines would be even greater. Reducing wireless taxes would make wireless even more affordable.
Despite lower prices, consumers are getting faster speeds and more capacity. The average speed got 51% faster while Americans used 32% more data. This pushed the price per gigabyte down by 21% in the last year and 40% over the last two years. The price per gigabyte has fallen from $20 in 2015 to under $2 in 2024. Prices of home Internet service dropped by 3% last year.
Today, there are over two hundred different service providers offering thousands of different plans. Lower prices have been rewarded. In 2025 wireless providers attracted 3.4 million new 5G subscribers. These trends are likely to continue. Regulators should ask themselves whether sensible regulatory reform can spur the same combination of competition, innovation, and declining real prices in other markets.
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