As recession lingers, cell phones take over
By Chris Gaylord | 05.07.09
As Americans tighten their budgets, landline phones seem to be an easy victim. AP reports that “the number of US households opting for only cell phones has for the first time surpassed those that just have traditional landlines.”
Officials at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, who conducted the survey, expected this shift to occur, but said Wednesday that the recession has hastened its arrival.
Twenty percent of US homes now rely exclusively on cell phones, while 17 percent use only traditional lines, the report found. Just five years ago, wireless-only represented 3 percent of American households, with 43 percent using only landlines.
Households that are low-income, young, rented, and Hispanic have driven the mobile-only trend, according to he CDC.
The crumbling landline market has shaken several phone companies. Verizon and AT&T posted strong fourth-quarter earnings earlier this year, but only because mobile adoption has outpaced abandoned traditional phone plans.
A vignette in the AP article demonstrated this readjusting:
Verizon Communications Inc. had 39 million landline telephone customers in March 2008 but 35 million a year later. Over the same period, its wireless customers grew from 67 million to 87 million, though 13 million of the added lines came from the firm’s acquisition of Alltell Corp.
A Verizon spokesman said that he hasn’t seen strong evidence that the recession accelerated this shift, but acknowledged that some dropped landlines came from businesses closing.
<< Little search engines that could | MainComments
2. rman1900 | 05.07.09
Maybe there are two clues - low income and Hispanic ( immigrants )
In many poor countries ( not just Latin America ) cell phones have transformed communications because land lines were dominated by expensive government bureaucracies. I have some of the poorest people in Sri Lanka and Guatemala who can now afford a cell phone but never could get land service.
And so they are comfortable doing the same in America.
Also we must not overlook that fact that younger people are less likely to be indoors and would want to remain reachable on the move.
I wonder if the consider internet based phone service “land” line.
3. ReneeBaker | 05.08.09
I also dropped my landline last year and certainly do not miss it that much. I really got more spam calls on it than anything else. The NET10 prepaid cell I use has excellent reception at home and around town so I feel quite safe not having a landline. The cost of the NET10 phone is also less than any other effective way to stay in contact with friends and family.
4. youngkie | 05.08.09
Well, it just made sense to drop the landline when I wanted to trim down my spending on all things communication related. While the landline was useful at first, the way I stay in contact changed over the years. For a few months before I gave up the fixed line, the only calls I received were from marketing companies. And because I changed to a NET10 prepaid phone a few months ago I have excellent reception at home and in town. So I used the cell more and when the time came to choose one or the other I went for the more convenient and useful. And I must say, it’s been a few months and I don’t miss the old landline at all.
5. mary | 05.08.09
Landlines are still safer for transmitting sensitive personal information over the phone. I live in a tech corrider and techies listen in on cellphone conversations for amusement.
6. glenn | 05.08.09
Just in time for global cellphone banking even if you only
make two bucks a day!
7. Janet Pierce | 05.08.09
How does this work out pricewise if you also have cable TV service, or satellite ? These are often linked, at discounted rates. Are you saving overall, or just moving your charges around. ?
8. Janet Pierce | 05.09.09
How does this work out pricewise if you also have cable TV service, or satellite ? These are often linked, at discounted rates. Are you saving overall, or just moving your charges around. ?
P.S.: Forgot to say good post!
9. nebben | 05.11.09
I think the landline is on its way out of U.S. households, for good. Wrote about that here, http://bit.ly/ndvmp.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
Leave a Comment
We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. The comments feature is a forum to discuss the ideas in our stories. Constructive debate - even pointed disagreement - is welcome, but personal attacks on other commenters are not, and will not be published.
Tip: Do not write a novel. Keep it short. We will not publish lengthy comments. Come up with your own statements. This is not a place to cut and paste an email you received. If we recognize it as such, we won't post it.
Please do not post any comments that are commercial in nature or that violate copyrights.
Finally, we will not publish any comments that we regard as obscene, defamatory, or intended to incite violence.
1. cheap chick | 05.07.09
I’m sooo not surprised,
I dumped my land line last year and now have only a cell phone. But I went a step further and got a Tracfone and pay upfront for use. It’s much more cost-effective and the service is fine.
The only reason I’d kept my landline was to send faxes but I do that on the Internet now, so who needs a landline?
Plus I have no contract anymore for my phone and the quality is great.