Wireless service revenue in 2nd half of 2001 rose 22.6% to $34.1 ...

year. Wireless min. of use were up 75% in half, with consumers using 456 billion billable min. for full year, CTIA Pres. Tom Wheeler told reporters Mon. “There were more minutes of use in the last half of 2001 than there was in all of 2000,” said Wheeler, who released CTIA’s semiannual wireless industry survey. Part of that growth was attributable to subscriber growth, with users increasing 17% in period. Of 17% subscriber growth, CTIA’s survey said there were 128.4 million subscribers as of year-end 2001, up from 109 million at end of 2000. While min. of use soared, local monthly bills have grown at relatively more modest pace, survey showed, to average $47.37 in Dec. 2001, up from $45.27 year earlier. In period in which national calling plans have expanded significantly, roaming revenue has grown proportionately, survey said -- up 27.9% in 2nd half of 2001 from $2.2 billion year earlier. For year, CTIA survey said roaming revenue was up 15.6% to $3.9 billion. Survey is drawn from wireless service providers and covers cumulative capital investment, number of cell sites, total service revenue, average local monthly bill, average length of call. Billable wireless min. of use reached 456 billion in 2001, up 75% in year, CTIA survey said. Wheeler said average subscribers’ use of cellphones grew to almost 400 min. per month in 2nd half, up 43% from year ago. “That’s a big change in a short period of time,” he said. On growth in wireless data revenue, which hit $544.96 million in 2001, he said nearly 70% of data revenue came in last 6 months. On another issue, Wheeler said CTIA planned to file amicus brief in U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., in pending Verizon Wireless litigation against FCC. Verizon sued Commission earlier this year in D.C. Circuit and Court of Federal Claims over pending NextWave license obligations. In March, FCC returned 85% of deposits from re-auction but concluded that winning bidders such as Verizon still should be held to nearly $16 billion in potential auction obligations until pending Supreme Court review played out. Verizon argued that Commission should release it from its auction contract obligations because licenses had been returned to NextWave and Jan. 2001 re- auction had been voided. In CTIA amicus brief, Wheeler said, “we will be saying that a basic tenet of contract law is that you deliver that which you sold and that if there is a failure to deliver that a party may declare the contract null and void if it so chooses.”