Although the United States accounts for just 5 percent of total global wireless subscribers, American Wireless providers accounted for 25 percent of the world's total wireless capital expenditures, according to a new report from CTIA. 

CTIA’s year-end 2012 survey found that U.S. wireless providers increased their annual network investments from $25.3 billion in 2011 to $30.1 billion in 2012, up 19 percent. 

That $30.1 billion is the highest amount U.S. operators have spent since the survey began in 1985. 

When broken out, U.S. operators invested approximately $94 per subscriber, compared with $16 per subscriber for the rest of the world. 

Since 2000, wireless providers invested more than $296 billion, not including the more than $35 billion in spectrum auction revenues paid to the U.S. government.

Perhaps surprisingly, the report also found that the use of text messaging has declined, as the popularity of Over-the-Top (OTT) IP-based messaging clients surges. CTIA found that U.S. wireless customers sent and received 2.19 trillion SMS in 2012, down from the 2.3 trillion in 2011.  

Wireless subscribers in the U.S. hit 326.4 million (102 percent penetration). That’s up from the 315.9 million in 2011. 

In all, those users wielded 152.1 million smartphones and PDAs. That number grew from 36 percent from 111.5 million in 2011. 

CTIA notes that its survey is entirely voluntary and thus does not yield a 100 percent response rate from all service providers. However, for the December 31, 2012, installment of the semi-annual survey, CTIA aggregated data from companies serving 97 percent of all estimated wireless subscriber connections. Because not all systems do respond, CTIA develops an estimate of total wireless connections.