Washington — In a high-tech shift accelerated by the recession, the number of U.S. households opting for only cell phones has for the first time surpassed those that just have traditional landlines.
It is the freshest evidence of the growing appeal of wireless phones.
Twenty percent of households had only cells during the last half of 2008, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released Wednesday. That was an increase of nearly 3 percentage points over the first half of the year, the largest six-month increase since the government started gathering such data in 2003.
The 20 percent of homes with only cell phones compared with 17 percent with landlines but no cells.
That ratio has changed in recent years: In the first six months of 2003, just 3 percent of households were wireless only, while 43 percent stuck with only landlines.
Stephen Blumberg, senior scientist at the CDC and an author of the report, attributed the growing number of cell-only households in part to a recession that has forced many families to scour their budgets for savings. People who live in homes that have only wireless service tend to be disproportionately low-income, young, renters and Hispanics.
“We do expect that with the recession, we’d see an increase in the prevalence of wireless only households, above what we might have expected had there been no recession,” Blumberg said.
Six in 10 households have both landlines and cell phones. Even so, industry analysts emphasized the public’s growing love affair with the versatility of cell phones, which can perform functions like receiving text messages and are also mobile.
“The end game is consumers are paying two bills for the same service,” said John Fletcher, an analyst for the market research firm SNL Kagan, referring to cell and landline phones. “Which are they going to choose? They’ll choose the one they can take with them in their car.”
In one illustration of the impact these changes are having, 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., according to Verizon spokesman Bill Kula.
Another Verizon spokesman, Eric Rabe, said he wasn’t sure the overall drop in landlines was related to the stalled economy, although he said the company has lost some landline business customers because companies are closing some of their locations.
Comments
grammaddy 4 years ago
Everyone over 18 in my household has a cell phone, except me. I prefer NOT to be that accessible to anyone. I had one for a little while in the mid 90's and got tired of everyone being able to reach me wherever I might be. After the 3rd time I was interrupted in a movie theater, I got rid of it. Now you can reach me at home on my landline or not at all.. I don't have any of the "accessories" on that line, either. If it's important, they'll call back!!
Solomon 4 years ago
Did you not realize that you could turn your cell phone off in a theater?
grammaddy 4 years ago
Yes, I know they can be turned of or to vibrate or whatever. The "vibrate" mode back then was still loud enough to be a distraction. I just choose not to own one and you can't make me.
planetwax 4 years ago
We were a "no land-line home" for a few years. But, a five year old with a mom who misplaces her phone in the car, the house, the purse, you name it, begs for a land-line that might come in handy if there is ever an emergency. We KNOW where it is. So, now we have both, again.
TheEleventhStephanie 4 years ago
nanananabooboo, you can't make me!
xbusguy 4 years ago
My landline isn't working today... deader than a door knob..... so I guess it's a cell phone only day.... Where is that thing??? No problem, I call it from my landline. ooops
Becky 4 years ago
Been land line free for almost 5 years now. I will never go back. my phone is always in my pocket or sitting on counter in one spot.
mom_of_three 4 years ago
haven't had a land line for about two years. we don't miss it. The costs are about the same, because all 5 family members have a cell phone.
as far as the accessibility issue goes, you just don't answer it.
I started carrying a cell phone, not because I wanted to be available to everyone, but for safety and convenience. I can call if I need to, and kids can always reach me. And you can always turn the ringer off - not on vibrate or ring, but off without turning off the phone.
BrianR 4 years ago
My mobile exists on "off" much of the time. It is there for my convenience not the caller's.
Pywacket 4 years ago
Grammaddy~ For a clue, read BrianR's post! Honestly, how hard is that? Believe me, if you keep your phone turned off except for when you want to use it or check your messages, your contacts will soon figure out that you are NOT at their 24/7 beck and call.
Of course, you can continue to cut off your nose to spite your face, if you like--you're the one paying for a landline that only one person in the house (apparently, from reading your comment) needs. If you ever find yourself with a blowout on a highway (or insert other logical emergency situation here), you may wish you had a cell phone.
We ditched the landline years ago and have never looked back. Where we live, our only landline provider was Sprint, and they were a huge rip off--especially for long distance. It felt really good to be able to dump them. We pay much less in phone bills now--and have unlimited texting.
gccs14r 4 years ago
We have a landline, but it's primarily as a carrier for DSL. My fiancée uses it to call her mom overseas, which is a lot cheaper than using a cell, but it's otherwise not used as a telephone. If she could get 3 cents a minute on overseas calls on her cell, we could drop dialtone and use the line only for DSL. If we could also get internet service some other way that didn't involve Sunflower, we could drop the landline entirely.
average 4 years ago
GCCS - Dropping dialtone for DSL-only saves quite a bit. No taxes and fees on the internet service part. As for the overseas, you might do well with Skype. You don't have to use a computer to access it (although you can). They provide a "Skype to go" Lawrence phone number you can call, and then make calls using your Skype credit.
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