Landline phones going out of fashion fast
15 May 2008 | 08:34 BST
Mobiles are king
ONE IN three people don't use their landlines and prefer their mobiles, according to a survey taken in the former British colony of Virginia.
The National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the IDC, show that wired phones use in the US is fading fast. In the second half of last year, 16 per cent of households only used mobiles. Another 13 per cent had landlines but got all or nearly all their calls on their mobiles.
However, the amount of people who chucked in their landlines for mobile calls grew by two per cent in just six months.
The numbers of households that rarely use their landlines also grew by a per cent during the first half of last year.
It is fast becoming the state of play where the only reason you would want a landline is to connect your computer to DSL.
Stephen Blumberg, senior scientist at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, who for some reason is the report's author, said the move to mobiles could stuff up those valuable election opinion polls.
Not only are mobiles too costly for pollsters to call, it is illegal to make solicited calls to mobiles with computerised dialing systems.
The poll shows that low-income people are likelier than the more affluent to only use mobiles. They are more likely to be renters and under the age of 30.
Homes that use both tend to be better educated and have higher incomes.
Only two per cent of the population does not have any telephone at all. µ
L'Inq
Chicago
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