Another big change is probably coming soon, with "family" data plans that allow multiple devices and users to share one monthly allotment of data. Sharma expects the major carriers to announce such plans in the next few weeks or months. Pooled data plans could make it easier and, in some cases, less expensive to use mobile data.

Data services will remain the driver of mobile growth, as data traffic in bytes has doubled annually for eight years and should double again in 2012, according to Sharma. An average subscriber's data use is approaching 1 gigabyte per month for some carriers. That growth has led to data making up more than 85 percent of all mobile traffic in the U.S., Sharma said. Data also drives revenue: Data plans surpassed 40 percent of the carriers' revenue in the first quarter and are likely to represent the majority of revenue next year, he said.

Meanwhile, the ongoing adoption of mobile is also eating into landline voice subscriptions. One-third of U.S. consumers, more than 100 million mobile subscribers in the first quarter, don't have landline phones, according to the report.

The IDG News Service