According to the Pew Research centre (via eMarketer) between 7% and 9% of US citizens have now cut the cord and rely solely on the mobile phone, eschewing a landline altogether.
This is no longer a niche habit - more people only have mobile telephony, for instance, than are vegetarians.
We can only expect this trend to accelerate and I’m pretty confident that households with landlines will die out eventually. By when? Hmmm. Certainly by 2020.
Our friend Tomi Ahonen has been ranting along these lines recently - Vodafone have announced that they’re going into the landline business. It does seem a curious decision. A little like Ford in 1930 deciding that they need to make horse-drawn buggies.
Or maybe they have a cunning plan.
[...] An interesting note from Russell at Mobhappy: 9% of US Citizens Have Cut the Cord at MobHappy According to the Pew Research centre (via eMarketer) between 7% and 9% of US citizens have now cut the cord and rely solely on the mobile phone, eschewing a landline altogether. [...]
[...] MobHappy is reporting that 9% of US Citizens have gone to using mobile phones exclusively for their voice needs. This ties into a post I made yesterday on how Voice service is moving to a ‘free’ model - though I think that it needs further discussion. [...]
9% of US Citizens Have Cut the Cord…
According to the Pew Research Centre - via eMarketer - between 7% and 9% of US citizens have now cut the cord and rely solely on the mobile phone, eschewing a landline altogether.
[via MobHappy]
Picture left, Jean-Luc Cornec’s Telephone Sheep -…
One thing I would point out is that much of the criticism and justification for hammering Vodafone is based on reports of the dying fixed industry. Whilst this is undoubtedly valid in regards to fixed voice (just take a look at minute leakage from fixed networks of all incumbents across WE), I don’t think we can call fixed data a dying industry. I haven’t actually seen Voda make any reference to plans to offer fixed voice, but rather they want to offer fixed data alone.
My guess then would be that there is some very heavy lobbying going on behind the scenes to push through naked DSL in more of Voda’s core European markets.
It’s only really in Norway that we have seen regulatory intervention to push naked DSL. The impact has been very healthy broadband penetration (50% of households) with amongst the most advanced market for FMS in Western European. In H2 2005, about 49% of total voice minutes were mobile-originated, putting Norway up there with Finland and Portugal at the head of the FMS field. It is these two growth waves that Vodafone is hoping to ride.
Cutting the Cord…
I am part of the 7-9% and proud of it. For me, having an extra line is a waste of money…….
I would consider myself an early adopter of this sort, however, since I have a home alarm system (ADT) and since I have a DVR (Tivo) I must have a landline. Seems quaint, but it’s true.
I wonder what the percentage is of those who have to have a land line for these reasons, but do not use land lines for voice…
9% of US Citizens Have Cut the Cord says MobHappy…
9% of US Citizens Have Cut the Cord says MobHappy: According to the Pew Research centre (via eMarketer) between 7% and 9% of US citizens…
Mobile-only Households?…
The fact that 9% of the households in the US just rely on their mobiles and are ditching their land-lines is not surprising. I am curious to see what the equivalent figure is in US and Asia. My guess is…