Study Confirms American Communication Preference Shift From Landlines To Mobile, Internet

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A study slated for release Wednesday confirms what has been an observation over the past few years. That less Americans are using landlines as their main communication tool, while more are tapping mobile phones and the internet.

Findings of a report by the National Center for Health Statistics said one in every six U.S. homes or 15.8 percent owned only a handheld unit during the last six months of 2007, up from only 6.1 percent in 2004.

While cellphones have fast gained popularity, landline use was dropping across the country since 2000. In New York, landline usage was down by 55 percent, New Jersey 50 percent, California 21 percent, Texas 20 percent and Connecticut 10 percent.

Craig Moffett, who authored the report, predicted New York may soon be dislodged from the top post as the landline's popularity continues to be on a downward spiral. "This is a business that is not showing any signs of recovery," Moffett wrote, quoted by the USA Today.

Sameer Mithal, senior principal of IBB Consulting, explained the phenomenon, which is actually global, to Americans being gabbers. "The ability to talk on the go is what Americans like to do," Mithal said, quoted by the USA Today.

Preference for cellular phones over landlines was linked by the study with age.

Aside from the mobile phone, voice service over the internet, known as Voice over Internet Protocol, is also fast gaining users among U.S. residents as a way of cutting costs on long distance and overseas telephone bills.

Ignoring the landline was also further reflected in a finding by the report that 13.1 percent or 1 out of every 8 homes received the bulk of calls on their cellphones, even if there was a landline. If this trend continues, the center warned, public opinion polls conducted over the phone would have distorted findings.

Major landline operators like Verizon said it had anticipated the consumer preference shift. Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe told the USA Today, "We saw this trend coming for a long time... That's why the company is building an all-fiber cable network and going after television customers."