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Majority of US Households Now Cellphone-Only, Government Says (networkworld.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the there's-a-first-for-everything dept.

The National Center for Health Statistics has released a report that says, for the first time in history, U.S. households with landlines are now in the minority. Network World reports: The second 6 months of 2016 was the first time that a majority of American homes had only wireless telephones. Preliminary results from the July-December 2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) indicate that 50.8% of American homes did not have a landline telephone but did have at least one wireless telephone (also known as cellular telephones, cell phones, or mobile phones) -- an increase of 2.5 percentage points since the second 6 months of 2015. Young adults (25-34) and those who rent are most likely to live wireless-only, as 70 percent of that demographic lives with a landline.

6 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. I still have a landline by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Funny

    I still have a landline. I need it so that when I can't find my cellphone, I can call it and search for the ringing sound.

    1. Re:I still have a landline by sims+2 · · Score: 4, Informative

      https://www.wheresmycellphone....

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    2. Re:I still have a landline by swillden · · Score: 4, Informative

      I still have a landline. I need it so that when I can't find my cellphone, I can call it and search for the ringing sound.

      If your phone is an Android device, try https://www.google.com/android...

      It's better than calling because when you use the device manager to ring the phone, it rings max volume, even if the ringer was turned down or silenced, and it rings for five minutes so you don't have to keep calling while you trace the sound.

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  2. First TIme in History? by mentil · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Pretty sure in 1800, the majority of U.S. households did not own a landline telephone.

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  3. Cellphone-only households are a stupid idea. by hey! · · Score: 4, Funny

    There should be at least one person to actually use the cell phones.

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  4. Re:I wouldn't mind having a land line by sjames · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That depends on the area. In many places, cell towers have as little as 24 hours of backup power. Most COs for POTS lines have a week or more.

    The actual copper is often buried where it won't be blown down by storms, unlike a tower.