Landlines Declining Among Internet Users

chrisn — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:41:00 GMT

by Chris Neiger

It's not hard to assume that more and more people are using their cell phones as their primary phone of choice, rather than a fixed landline at their home, but it's always nice to have some information to back up that idea. The Nielsen Company recently published a report that shows that 17% of U.S. households are using wireless substitution (using cell phones as the primary phone instead of landlines); that percentage equates to just over 20 million U.S. households.

The 12-page report also mentioned information about how much cell phone-only users save each month compared to those with landlines and also includes television habits of wireless substitutors (see below).

To find out more about the decline of landline phones, read the full Nielson report.

Key findings in the report:
(Information and findings come from The Nielsen Company)

• Wireless substitution has increased in the United States and has reached 20.2 million homes in June 2008.

• Wireless substitutors pay 10 percent more for their cell phone service but use 45 percent more minutes on their wireless phone compared to non-wireless substitutors; which actually nets them $33 in savings per month in a single-person household (less $6.69 for each additional wireless subscriber).

• In the second quarter of 2008, 10 percent of U.S. households with a landline phone had previously ended their landline service, only to sign back up for it again.

• Wireless substitutors are more likely to have over-the-air or broadcast TV (rather than satellite TV) compared to average wireless subscribers.

Tech Beat : landline

Landlines Declining Among Internet Users