The percentage of Americans in cell phone- only households has surpassed the percentage of people living in landline only households, according to a Mediamark Research report “The Birth of a Cellular Nation.”
The landline- only population has been larger than the cell-only population since Mediamark began tracking cell phone use in 2000. This was true up through the company’s survey from March-October 2006, when the cell phone- only population was 12. 4 percent of the population and the landline- only population was 14.5 percent.
In the most recent survey from September 2006-April 2007, those numbers were reversed. The cell phone only population increased to 14 percent and the landline only population dipped to 12 .3 percent.
“This milestone is a consequence of two trends-a steepening decline since 2000 in the percentage of households with any landline, accompanied by a rapid rise in the number of households with at least one cell phone,” said Andrew Arthur, Vice President of MRI’s Market Solutions division and the author of Birth of a Cell Phone Nation.
“The MRI data show that 84.5% of people now have now have landlines in their households, while 86.2% now have at least one cell phone.”
Young people and those who live on their own lead the emerging cell phone only population. “Logic would suggest that single-person households have less need for a landline. And, of course, fewer income-earners to pay for one,” said Arthur.
“The economic and practical realities faced by people living alone tend to force a choice between the two technologies and the numbers are particularly striking at the young end of the spectrum. 57.1% of 18-24 year-olds who live in single-person households are now cell-only, making them more than 4 times as likely to be cell-only as the average adult.
