Percentage of the U.S. population covered by at least a 3G mobile network. Percentage of the U.S. population covered by at least a 2G mobile network.

Sub-categories

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Headline data

Percentage of the U.S. population covered by at least a 3G mobile network
Year Value
2007 82.0
2008 92.3
2009 98.1
2010 98.5
2011 99.4
2012 99.5
2013 99.7
2015 99.9
2016 99.9

Source: FCC's annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report. Full title: "Implementation of Section 6002(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Annual Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions With Respect to Mobile Wireless, Including Commercial Mobile Services

Geographical Area:

Unit of Measurement:

Footnote:

This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from United States statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from American statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other American-specific metadata information.

Indicator

Percentage of the U.S. population covered by at least a 3G mobile network. Percentage of the U.S. population covered by at least a 2G mobile network.
Organisation

FCC’s annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report. Full title: “Implementation of Section 6002(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Annual Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions With Respect to Mobile Wireless, Including Commercial Mobile Services
Data sources

FCC’s annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report. Full title: “Implementation of Section 6002(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Annual Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions With Respect to Mobile Wireless, Including Commercial Mobile Services - https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/reports/mobile-wireless-competition-reports
Data providers

Kathryn O’Brien; Walt Strack
Comment and limitations

The FCC’s annual report, the Mobile Wireless Competition Report, prepared by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, usually includes the most recent year’s data on 3G+ and 2G+ coverage, either in the body of the report or in its associated web appendices and “quick facts.” These two time series were created by pulling data from the 6th through 20th annual reports. Note the three different data/computation methods used over this period, as described above. Other notes: (1) 2G+ coverage often appears in the reports simply as total mobile coverage, since “2G or faster” captures all digital air interfaces, and (1G) analog service is no longer offered. (2) Since the measures are 3G or faster and 2G or faster, it is the gap between the two figures that gives the coverage of 2G only, or narrowband, service. (3) Percentages are shown rounded to one decimal place, as presented in the public reports. (4) “n/a” indicates “not available.”
Method of computation

Three methods were employed over this time period. 2015-2016: “Form 477” data and “centroid” computation method. 2007-2013: data from American Roamer (company renamed Mosaik as of 2011 data) and “centroid” computation method. 2000-2005: entire county treated as covered if any coverage in county. Population data from most recent U.S. census available.
Actual indicator available - description

The definitions for the FCC indicators are: (1) percent of population covered by 3G or faster service, and (2) percent of population covered by 2G or faster service; where “3G” and “2G” have esssentialy the definitions given above. “Coverage” here indicates that at least one operator can provide a signal above the required m1nimum, but it is not necessarily true that at least one operator is actually offering service at that speed.
Date of national source publication

September 2017, releasing year-end 2016 data.
Periodicity

Annual
Scheduled update by national source

Fall, 2018
Disaggregation geography

NA
Disaggregation categories

NA
Time period

Figures are as of year end, or near year end.
Data last updated Jun 06, 2024
Metadata last updated Jul 08, 2024

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator

Indicator 9.c.1: Proportion of population covered by a mobile network, by technology
Target

Target 9.c: Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020
Organisation

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Definition and concepts

Definitions:

Proportion of population covered by a mobile network, broken down by technology, refers to the percentage of inhabitants living within range of a mobile-cellular signal, irrespective of whether or not they are mobile phone subscribers or users. This is calculated by dividing the number of inhabitants within range of a mobile-cellular signal by the total population and multiplying by 100.

Concepts:

The indicator is based on where the population lives, and not where they work or go to school, etc. When there are multiple operators offering the service, the maximum population number covered should be reported. Coverage should refer to LTE and above (4G), broadband (3G) and any technology (2G) mobile-cellular technologies and include:

- 2G mobile population coverage: refers to the percentage of inhabitants that are within range of at least a 2G mobile-cellular signal, irrespective of whether or not they are subscribers. This includes mobile-cellular technologies such as GPRS, CDMA2000 1x and most EDGE implementations. The indicator refers to the theoretical ability of subscribers to use non-broadband speed mobile data services, rather than the number of active users of such services.

- 3G population coverage: refers to the percentage of inhabitants that are within range of at least a 3G mobile-cellular signal, irrespective of whether or not they are subscribers. This is calculated by dividing the number of inhabitants that are covered by at least a 3G mobile-cellular signal by the total population and multiplying by 100. It excludes people covered only by GPRS, EDGE or CDMA 1xRTT.

- LTE population coverage: Refers to the percentage of inhabitants that live within range of LTE/LTE-Advanced, mobile WiMAX/WirelessMAN or other more advanced mobile-cellular networks, irrespective of whether or not they are subscribers. This is calculated by dividing the number of inhabitants that are covered by the previously mentioned mobile-cellular technologies by the total population and multiplying by 100. It excludes people covered only by HSPA, UMTS, EV-DO and previous 3G technologies, and also excludes fixed WiMAX coverage.

As technologies evolve and as more and more countries will deploy and commercialize more advanced mobile-broadband networks (5G etc.), the indicator will include further breakdowns.
Unit of measure

Percent (%)
Data sources

This indicator is based on an internationally agreed definition and methodology, which have been developed under the coordination of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), through its Expert Groups and following an extensive consultation process with countries. It is also a core indicator of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development's Core List of Indicators, which has been endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission (last time in 2014).

ITU collects data for this indicator through an annual questionnaire from national regulatory authorities or Information and Communication Technology Ministries, who collect the data from Internet service providers.
Data providers

Telecommunication/ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) regulatory authority, or Ministry of ICTs.
Comment and limitations

Some countries have difficulty calculating overall mobile-cellular population coverage. In some cases, data refer only to the operator with the largest coverage, and this may understate the true coverage.
Method of computation

The indicator percentage of the population covered by a mobile network, broken down by technology, refers to the percentage of inhabitants living within range of a mobile-cellular signal, irrespective of whether or not they are mobile phone subscribers or users. This is calculated by dividing the number of inhabitants within range of a mobile-cellular signal by the total population and multiplying by 100.

( N r .   i n h a b i t a n t s   c o v e r e d   b y   a n y   m o b i l e - c e l l u l a r   s i g n a l ) / ( T o t a l   p o p u l a t i o n ) ×   100

Metadata update

2023-03-31
International organisations(s) responsible for global monitoring

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
UN designated tier

1

Source 1

Organisation

FCC’s annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report. Full title: “Implementation of Section 6002(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Annual Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions With Respect to Mobile Wireless, Including Commercial Mobile Services
Agency Staff Name

Kathryn O’Brien; Walt Strack
Agency Survey Dataset

FCC’s annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report. Full title: “Implementation of Section 6002(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Annual Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions With Respect to Mobile Wireless, Including Commercial Mobile Services
Link to data source https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/reports/mobile-wireless-competition-reports opens in a new window
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