According to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, consumer spending on wireless data services is expected to pass consumer spending on fixed-line broadband services sometime this year. Last year in the United States, home Internet spending reached $46.5 billion compared to $44.5 billion for mobile data, but mobile data is expected to reach $54 billion this year while home access reaches $49.6 billion.

Given the huge popularity of smartphones, and the rising costs of metered wireless data plans, and the fact that you can't get a smartphone without forced bundling of a data plan, none of this is particularly surprising. Companies like AT&T and Verizon have shifted their focus entirely from fixed-line services to wireless, where the ability to impose usage charges (not to mention the huge profit margins on SMS) make those services a huge cash cow.

"We see mobile growing at a much more pronounced rate than broadband, because we are getting toward the saturation point (on home broadband)," says PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner Sean De Winter. "Mobile Internet penetration is screaming through the roof."