Number of cell phones surpass US population

The number of cell phones in the US now outnumbers its population, drawing attention to an increasing need for spectrum to keep up with subscriber demands, the mobiledia.com website reported.

Trade group CTIA revealed there are more than 327 million wireless connections in the US, compared with about 312 million people counted in the last census.

Wireless customers are using those connections heavily, with data traffic increasing more than 110 percent from January to June of this year, and will pose challenges to phone makers looking to expand business based on data.

Spectrum, a collection of electromagnetic energy arranged by frequency and wavelength, carries wireless signals, making it possible for devices to access and stream data. The federal government has assigned certain frequencies to certain uses, to manage the demand.

The Federal Communications Commission allocates certain bandwidths for personal communications services.

As allocation demand changes, it is up to the FCC to respond, putting federal regulators into play with carriers and consumers to meet increasing need for wireless services.