Landlines Fall to Cell Phones

Posted in HouseFront Blog | Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 | Trackback

By: Chris Brubaker

The end is near, for landline phones that is. Consumers have always spent more money on landline phone service, but experts predict that’s about to change. In 2001, consumers spent about three times more annually on landline phones than cell phones. Six years later, it’s almost neck and neck, with cell phones expected to cost consumers more annually than landlines.

Many saw this change coming when in 2006 consumers spent $542 (annually) on landlines and $524 on cell phone service. While the numbers are still out for 2007, it isn’t hard to believe cell phones are now king of the telephone market.

Personally, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. Cell phones offer so much more than a conventional landline. Text messaging, Video and Picture messaging, games, ring tones, all service offered by carriers and all cost money. Landlines on the other hand provide long distance, call waiting, and three way calling….nowhere close to the razzle dazzle that cell phones offer.

Landlines may be losing the revenue battle but in a CNN.com quick poll 70% of the readers reported still having a landline. While some consumers are still hanging on to their old service, it won’t be long before the landline goes the way of the tape deck, case in point AT&T. AT&T plans to stop service on all of its pay phones by the end of 2008 (there were 2.8 million pay phones in ’98 compared to 1 million today). Again another hit for the once giant landline business.