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Consumers Giving Up Landlines

Posted May 14, 08 8:29 AM CDT in Business,  Technology 

(Newser) – Mobile and Internet-based phones are replacing landline phones in US households as younger Americans lead a movement to newer technologies, reports USA Today. The number of homes depending on wireless phones jumped 159% between 2004 and 2007. Nearly 35% of people 25-29 years old lived in wireless-only households in the second half of 2007, more than double the percentage of wireless-only 30-44 year olds.

Overall, one in six US households were wireless last year, a National Center for Health Statistics study found. States with the highest rate of landline loss include New York, where they've plummeted 55% since 2000, according to another report, and New Jersey, down 50%. Telcos are struggling as they pay to maintain wire that’s returning declining revenue.

Source USA Today

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Ryan Schultz of Cox Communications repairs wires to restore telephone service to a customer in Oklahoma City.   (AP Photo)
A shopper talks on her cell phone as she carries her purchases on Chicago's Michigan Avenue.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Consumers are increasingly leaving landline phones behind and switching to mobile phone service.   (AP Photo)
Americans increasingly are dropping traditional landline phones and going mobile.   (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)
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cell phones  • Verizon  • AT&T  • telephone  • VoIP


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