More Americans Go Wireless

Landline use falls; one-eighth of US households rely on cellphones only

By Sam Gale Rosen, Newser Staff

Posted May 15, 2007 11:10 AM CDT

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More Americans Go Wireless — Democratic presidential hopeful New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a cellular phone during a rally at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y., Monday, May 14, 2007. Clinton invited supporters to keep track of the campaign by using text messaging. Clinton was endorsed by top state Democrats in her presidential... (Associated Press)

More and more Americans are bypassing landlines and using only cellphones, a new CDC survey says. The trend encompasses people of all ages and incomes, and it's especially pronounced among the young and the poor. One-eighth (12.8%) of all households use only a cellphone—up from 3.2% in 2003—and the proportion in the 25-to-29 demographic is nearly 30%.

Poor households are more than twice as likely as others to have gone wireless, with 22.4% landline-less. More than a quarter of renters are cell only, compared to 5.8% of homeowners. Among the survey's other revelations: It's getting harder to do surveys. Most pollsters use only landline numbers, and the trend is forcing them to reevaluate their strategies. (More telecom industry stories.)

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