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Landline Holders Increasingly Older, More Affluent

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the untethered dept.

netbuzz writes "More than a quarter of the under-30 crowd has decided you only need one telephone — and it sure as heck does not plug into a wall. The trend towards an all-mobile lifestyle is accelerating, according to a new survey. Besides younger people, lower-income people are also more likely to have cut the cord. And while businesses may be a bit slower on the cell-only uptake, there appears to be little doubt at this point that the traditional landline will be joining rotary dials and party lines as a relic of the telecommunications industry."

4 of 616 comments (clear)

  1. I'm in that category by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    "More than a quarter of the under-30 crowd has decided you only need one telephone -- and it sure as heck does not plug into a wall.

    I'm in that category - I own a mobile, but unfortunately, here in Australia, you need to rent a landline from the monopoly PSTN provider (Telstra) if you want to have broadband internet (ADSL anyway).

    So I have a landline I never use.

    God they're filthy (Telstra) - hopefully we'll have a change of Government soon & get rid of the current spineless Prime Minister John Howard - who can't stand up to Telstra.

  2. Re:Party lines? by mrchaotica · · Score: 4, Informative

    A party line is a single telephone line that you share with your neighbors. They were common in rural areas of the U.S. before WWII, probably becuase they were cheaper than dedicated phone lines (remember, back then each line was on a different physical circuit, and calls were switched by human operators).

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  3. Re:Kind of a concern by znu · · Score: 4, Informative

    You should be able to call 911 on any landline that's physically connected, even if you don't pay for landline service.

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  4. What about the sun? by MollyB · · Score: 4, Informative

    I calculate that around 2012, nearly all folks will be using POTS, if this excerpt from Wikipedia is correct:
    "The last solar maximum was in 2001, and on 10 March 2006 NASA researchers announced that the next cycle would be the strongest since the historic maximum in 1958 in which northern lights could be seen as far south as Mexico."

    Aren't we just one or two Coronal Mass Ejections from having all our satellites (and cell service among others) go kerflooey?