74 percent US Adults Subscribe to Wireless Telephone Service
Tuesday, 10 October 2006
Three-quarters (74 percent) of US adults say they currently subscribe to wireless (cell or mobile) telephone service, more than those who say they currently subscribe to wireline (landline) service (58 percent). About one-quarter (24 percent) of cell phone users consider the cell phone their primary means of communication, and two in five (41 percent) say their cell phone provides them with a sense of personal security.
These are some of the results of a nationwide online survey of 1,125 US adults conducted by Harris Interactive® between August 9 and 14, 2006.
Of note, in April 2005, one in ten (9 percent) US adults said that they had abandoned their wireline telephone service completely in favor of using their wireless phone exclusively. At that time, another five percent said that they were seriously considering this and would switch within a year, and forty-seven percent said that they were somewhat considering it. Currently, approximately 13 percent of US adults use only a cell phone or plan to do so within the next six months.
"Ma Bell could become a name for Trivial Pursuit before you know it," said Joe Porus, Vice President and Chief Architect for Harris Interactive. "More and more consumers are cutting the cord and going wireless only. Ultimately consumers see wireless as a more convenient, cost effective and personal form of communication."
More than half (55 percent) of those who plan to use only a cell phone six months from now say this is because they like the flexibility that a cell phone offers, while 30 percent say that their wireless plan is actually less expensive than their wireline phone plan.
Prohibitive Factors
Despite the high percentage of current cell phone users, many adults are reluctant to discontinue their wireline service and go exclusively with wireless or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. Thirty-seven percent (37 percent) of those keeping wireline say it is because wireline service works even when the power is out.
Other key reasons cited for keeping wireline service are to have the ability to call local 911 (31 percent), followed by excellent network reliability/no dropped calls (31 percent) and ability to always get a dial tone (25 percent). This indicates that despite the advances in technology, some people like the security of the traditional phone company.