News
Mobile Only Homes Increasingly Popular
(18 Dec 2008, BWCS Staff)Just under one fifth of households in the US rely solely on wireless connections and have no fixed line connection, according to figures released by the government. This marks a sizeable increase on the position last year. In the first half of 2008, 17.5% of US homes were 'wireless only', this compares to 13.6% of homes during the same period last year. The figures were released by US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency admits that the figures have a margin of error of plus or minus 0.9%, but, generally, reflect what telecoms companies have been saying for some time: that home-owners are happy to do without a fixed line in their houses. Service providers such as Verizon Communications, AT&T and Qwest Communications International admit that they have seen a steep increase in customers getting rid of their traditional copper connection. At least one operator believes that the trend is being exacerbated by the economic down-turn as customers disconnect home phones to save money.
The percentage of households with both a landline and a wireless phone declined slightly in the first half of 2008, at about 58.5%, compared with 58.9% a year earlier. On the other hand, about 2.5% of US households had no phone at all in the first half of the year, compared with about 1.9% last year, the agency said. The figures come from national in-person interviews of approximately 30,000 households per year with at least one adult or child.
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