1/3 of U.S. Homes Have Cut Voice Cord

Some 34 percent of U.S.  homes used only mobile devices for phone service during the second half of 2011, an increase of 2.4 percentage points since the first half of 2011.

One might also infer that perhaps half of all U.S. homes might be candidates for going “mobile only,” as nearly one of every six American homes (16 percent) received all or almost all calls on wireless telephones despite also having a landline telephone, according to the July–December 2011 National Health Interview Survey of household communications.

In addition to those mobile-only households, among households with both landline and wireless telephones, 29.9 percent received all or almost all calls on mobile phones.

During the second six months of 2011, approximately 41 million adults (17.8 percent) lived in wireless-mostly households. This prevalence has remained largely unchanged since January 2010.

Hispanic adults (43.3 percent) were more likely than non-Hispanic white adults (29 percent) or non-Hispanic black adults (36.8 percent) to be living in households with wireless telephones only.

Among all wireless-only adults, the proportion aged 35 and over has increased steadily. In the second six months of 2011, half of wireless-only adults (49.6 percent) were aged 35 and over, up from 40.3 percentin the first 6 months of 2008.

What remains to be seen is whether different packaging and pricing of voice services could, or will, halt the landline slide. At least in principle, the new Verizon Wireless pricing of network access, which includes unlimited domestic texting and calling, could guarantee that use of voice and texting does not drop without end.