More people ditching home phone for mobile

Cellphones are becoming the only home phones in an increasing number of U.S. households, a trend intensified by challenging economic conditions, according to a new report released today from the National Center for Health Statistics.

• By Charles Rex Arbogast, By AP

  The percentage of wireless-only homes increased in every state, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics.

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By Charles Rex Arbogast, By AP

The percentage of wireless-only homes increased in every state, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics.

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More than one in four U.S. homes, or 26.6%, had only a wireless phone as of June 2010, up from 13.6% in 2007. And the percentage of wireless-only homes increased in every state, ranging from 35.2% in Arkansas to 12.8% in Rhode Island and New Jersey.

"The phrase 'home telephone number' is going the way of rotary dial phones and party lines," says Stephen Blumberg at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. The trend toward wireless-only homes shows no sign of slowing down, it said.

Low-income homes and those in poverty are more likely to be wireless-only homes, according to the researchers, who used data from tens of thousands of respondents to the National Health Interview Survey and the Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey in tracking the state and national trend. "States such as Arkansas, Mississippi and Kentucky have a higher proportion of households living with low income," Blumberg says, "and giving up a landline is one way to save money."

Renters are also more likely to have wireless-only households. "That is the reason we see states such as North Dakota, Idaho, Nebraska and Oklahoma near the top of the list," he says. Those states have a high proportion of rentals that come from young adults, he pointed out.

Even if a home has a landline, it is not necessarily used. In Texas, wireless phones are the primary means of receiving calls in 52.8% of homes. Mississippi has 49.8%, Arizona has 48.1% and Nebraska 47.3%.

Many are deciding to cut the landline cord. "All they get are solicitations, and most calls are done on a wireless phone anyway, so it represents a waste of money," says analyst Charles Golvin of Forrester Research.

More importantly are young adults who, as "cord-never-getters" get a mobile phone when they are young and "have a number everyone knows how to reach them on," Golvin says. "The last thing they need when they move out of their parents' house … is a new number they have to tell everybody about that doesn't really provide them much value."

The move to wireless-only households as a trend is not likely to be reversed. "Unless the carriers are able to create some new applications or services such as video calling," he says.

Homes that rely on wireless phones should check with their local emergency preparedness departments to see if its "Reverse 911" communication systems can incorporate cellphones. The service allows officials to contact residents in case of an emergency.

The move to wireless phones presents some challenges for emergency preparedness officials, admits Francisco Sanchez of the Harris County (Texas) Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Harris County, which includes Houston, is where more than 32% of adults live in wireless-only homes. " The benefit is that now we have a communications device that people carry all the time. So we need to know how to utilize that if we are going to be able to do our jobs effectively in the future."

Households without landlines

Percentage of U.S. adults and children living in homes that use cell phones as their primary home phone, July 2009-June 2010.

State	Ages 18 and older	under 18
Alabama	25.3%	30.9%
Alaska	19.9%	21.0%
Arizona	29.4%	34.8%
Arkansas	35.2%	46.2%
California	18.2%	19.7%
Colorado	30.4%	31.1%
Connecticut	13.6%	12.6%
Delaware	16.5%	20.1%
District of Columbia	27.7%	30.3%
Florida	27.3%	34.2%
Georgia	26.5%	33.5%
Hawaii	21.8%	23.6%
Idaho	31.7%	37.3%
Illinois	24.4%	27.4%
Indiana	25.2%	31.2%
Iowa	29.2%	29.8%
Kansas	28.7%	34.8%
Kentucky	31.5%	34.9%
Louisiana	26.8%	34.4%
Maine	22.9%	21.6%
Maryland	18.4%	18.0%
Massachusetts	16.8%	15.1%
Michigan	29.2%	35.6%
Minnesota	25.2%	23.5%
Mississippi	35.1%	41.9%
Missouri	22.4%	26.5%
Montana	19.4%	35.1%
Nebraska	30.4%	29.5%
Nevada	24.2%	26.8%
New Hampshire	16.0%	15.0%
New Jersey	12.8%	12.6%
New Mexico	27.2%	38.9%
New York	17.0%	16.6%
North Carolina	25.2%	31.4%
North Dakota	32.3%	39.7%
Ohio	25.6%	28.8%
Oklahoma	30.1%	35.2%
Oregon	30.6%	36.1%
Pennsylvania	16.5%	18.2%
Rhode Island	12.8%	15.8%
South Carolina	25.8%	33.6%
South Dakota	15.6%	20.5%
Tennessee	27.9%	36.3%
Texas	32.5%	36.5%
Utah	24.4%	25.9%
Vermont	20.3%	19.8%
Virginia	21.2%	20.1%
Washington	26.4%	27.0%
West Virginia	20.5%	26.6%
Wisconsin	25.3%	28.6%