Half Of Americans No Longer Have A Landline Phone

Fans of technology won't be surprised at the results of the new survey that claim half of Americans have ditched landline phones. For many people, having a home phone makes no sense when all calls can go to a mobile phone or smartphone that can be on your person at all times. The source of the survey that showed only half of Americans have home phone is rather surprising.

The study was conducted by the Center for Disease Control and is called the National Health Interview Study. The study is conducted in person with interviews throughout the year asking participants all sorts of questions ranging from health insurance status to whether or not they have a home phone. Certainly some of the people interviewed in the study might not have a home phone or a mobile phone.

However, people too poor to afford phone service can get free service thanks to the Universal Service Fund that has been in place for years. The survey interviewed over 20,000 households and found that just over half use mobile phones for all or nearly all phone calls. The survey also reported that 35.9% of those interviewed were wireless only households.

Another 15.9% of the homes surveyed have a landline but rarely used it. Many people have a home phone solely for Internet connectivity via DSL. All totaled, 51.8% of homes are predominantly wireless. That's an increase of less than 2% from the same period last year. Older people tend to keep landlines while younger people increasingly use mobile phones only.

[via NBCNews]