A Fifth Of U.S. Homes Only Use Cell Phones

For The First Time, Cell-Phone-Only Homes Outnumber Those That Only Have Traditional Landlines

(AP)  For the first time, the number of U.S. households opting for only cell phones outnumber those that just have traditional landlines in a high-tech shift accelerated by the recession.

In the freshest evidence of the growing appeal of cell phones, 20 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 to 17 percent with landlines but no cells.

That ratio has changed starkly in recent years: In the first six months of 2003, just 3 percent of households were wireless only, while 43 percent stuck to 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.

"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.

Further underscoring the public's shrinking reliance on landline phones, 15 percent of households have both landlines and cells but take few or no calls on their landlines, often because they are wired into computers. Combined with wireless only homes, that means that 35 percent of households - more than one in three - are basically reachable only on cells.

The changes are important for pollsters, who for years relied on reaching people on their landline telephones. Growing numbers of surveys now include calls to people on their cells, which is more expensive partly because federal laws forbid pollsters from using computers to place calls to wireless phones.

About a third of people age 18 to 24 live in households with only cell phones, making them far likelier than older people to rely exclusively on cells. The same is true of four in 10 people age 25 to 29.

Those likeliest to live in wireless-only households also include the poor, renters, Hispanics, Southerners, Midwesterners and those living with unrelated adults, such as roommates or unmarried couples.

Six in 10 households have both landline and cell phones, while one in 50 have no phones at all.

The data is compiled by the National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the CDC. The latest survey involved in-person interviews with members of 12,597 households conducted from last July through December.

[Oregon_State_OSU]

I finally dumped my land line 2 months ago and went with a cell phone.

[inachu1]

I remember when in 1997 employers were demanding a land line phone number on the resume or you don't get the job.

Or Libraries demanding that if you live local and are part of the community of that library that you must use a local area code if you want a library card.

These people/systems are out of touch and some of them still hold onto this practice even today.

[sjc_1]

With Verizon, you pay $60 for HD (programming fees) $30 for internet and about $15 for a phone. They have to pay programming fees but it is gravy on the phone and internet. A license to print money.

[dmight]

for some going cel only is the best value, others need land lines, and most who work at home really need landlines. For our family, the landline just sat there not used because everyone, friends and family knew to call the cell phones, and we referred all business to the cell phones. it's nice to have the messages, ID, forwarding, etc in one price instead of paying more for each service. If I had a larger home business where fax and multiple lines were needed, probably would go back to landline, but with my small home business, the cell lets me get out and still not miss any calls, the other cells give my wife and son their privacy and they don't tie up my business number. We figured the charges for a landlines, with services, compared with a 3 cell phone package w/internet on the phones, plus cable broadband internet service. It breaks even, or even saves some money by having cell phones instead of using landline. Not to mention convenience. If I stayed at home all day, didn't have a wife who worked outside the home, and didn't have a son who's in collage and the army, didn't mind missing calls because dialup internet was running (and running slow), and didn't make long distance calls for business and daughter who lives out of state, a landline would be great.
On the other hand, I have a friend who owns and operates a used car business. His phones are all cellular and he has a broadband internet connection in his office. It works out great for him, always in touch with business contacts and customers if he's on the lot or out buying cars at the auction, etc.
We're seeing a slow death of the landline. It'll be a long time, if ever when it goes away, but it'll become more of a novelty than a nessessity in the end.

[rwsmith29456]

I've got a nine year old at home. Unless you get a cellphone exclusively for home use, the phones go out the door. My landline is staying where it is. That, plus the fact that I want a place where people can call me at HOME. I hate it when people call me and I miss half of what they are saying and they miss half of what I say because the signal breaks up. Cell phones are nice but not nearly as reliable as land lines. When I need to make a call I don't want to see "no service" or 'low battery'.

[gravyboat45]

I can't stand making a serious phone call on my cell. The quality is not there compared to my land line. Cell has a purpose but it isn't for making distortion free, echo free, pin drop phone calls.
Posted by cbsblogger

You need a new cell phone.

[omega39-2009]

My phone bill is less than $20 per month.

I hardly ever use it. But it's there if I need it.
Posted by weedapoopl at

With a quarter of that total being a variety of taxes that they haven't gotten around to putting on cell phones yet.

[cbsblogger]

I can't stand making a serious phone call on my cell. The quality is not there compared to my land line. Cell has a purpose but it isn't for making distortion free, echo free, pin drop phone calls.

[tiredofthebs]

Japan has TRUE WI-FI. You can carry your HOME PHONE with you! It works on Wi-Fi once you get a certain distance from your base (home). Once consumers lenders started accepting applicants without landlines, I cut the cord.

[estabwary]

Health insurance costs too much, only have cell.