High-speed broadband services, continued penetration of advanced mobile devices that encourage developments in the cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) markets, and the resurgence of unlimited mobile plans are the top drivers of the North American mobile communications market. This tracker presents the metrics for Tier I mobile operators in the United States and Canada. It supplies statistics of mobile subscribers, connected devices, smartphone penetration, equipment revenue, and service and data revenue (including the average voice and data revenue per user). Information about prepaid and postpaid subscribers, adoption of bundled plans, device subsidies, capital expenditure, minutes of usage, cost per gross addition, cash cost per user, and churn rates (including users churned per quarter) have been included (where available or where they could be estimated). Comments on important market developments, such as network shutdowns, broadband investments and initiatives, customer acquisitions and divestments, and new service initiatives have also been provided. With 5G rollouts currently underway in North America, it is only a matter of time before the mobile operators start reporting on 5G handset and IoT device adoption and data consumption trends. Any such metric, when reported, will be included in this tracker as well.

Author: Vikrant Gandhi