|
|
|

Cell Phones Are Becoming the Only Phones for More Americans
By: Michelle Maisto
2009-03-12
Article Rating:    / 3
There are 4 user comments on this Mobile & Wireless story.
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control is confirming what AT&T, Verizon and other telecom companies have known for some time: An increasing number of people are dependent on cell phones alone. For places such as the CDC and other companies that conduct surveys, this is a distressing trend that forces them to rely on random calls to a shrinking number of landlines.In the District of Columbia, 25.4 percent of adults relies solely on wireless phones, according to the latest National Health Interview Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The number of households and adults without landlines is on the rise
a worrisome fact for survey organizations, such as the CDC, which fears
the voices of this demographic are going unrepresented.
Many of our largest surveys are done on calls to landline phone
numbers. All of those adults with only cell phones are being missed in
these surveys, said Stephen J. Blumberg, the lead author of the study.
Every six months, the NHIS presents national and regional estimates
concerning the size and characteristics of the wireless-only population
in America. Its most recent report shows that during the first half of
2008, one in six homes (17.5 percent) only had wireless telephones. In
2007, wireless-only households accounted for 14.7 percent of U.S.
households.
Results varied substantially across states. State levels ranged from
5.1 percent of households in Vermont to 26.2 percent in Oklahoma.
Results also varied when measured by adults, rather than households.
National estimates suggest that adults living in metropolitan areas
are more likely to live in wireless-only households than adults living
in nonmetropolitan areas, states the report. Whats a phone survey
company to do?
Well have to figure out a way for people to opt in to such things,
said Philippe Winthrop, a director in the global wireless practice at
Strategy Analytics, in an interview with eWEEK.
How long ago was it that Alexander Graham Bell first did his thing?
Mobile phones have only been available to consumers in a mass-market
way for about 15 years. Thats nothing! Theres still a lot to be
learned and figured out.
And the reality is, he adds, that if youre paying $50, on average,
for a landline, and another $50 for a cellular contract, you can get an
unlimited mobile phone for $100, and chances are you dont even need an
unlimited contract. Theres no question that for a portion of the
population, theres no need for a fixed line anymore.
As the economic situation remains bleak into 2009, the challenges
facing telephone survey companies may become heightened, as more people
cancel their landlines in acts of belt-tightening.
|
|
x}r8s;>Ӯcv
ْ˚-*Ou$)RCR^y9q~M-yr-w-`HD"w?I9uur56%SEo]"I~xC(`RϩIzNڶ?
}~mksu ;#|6%?w *s=NN5K&OxgMlM1eck`p,cw5h{9D@~56(CLevw ZwO~Vh;eMGao}{Xe;7 >)*X^P~FD;5~q#k|=x:a/M˟>ڮq
8]b'*#O^3lְB1BEt#I%g'
ڪ8NQp+F:tm3EkLN\^@ZSˆ螥{ɧ5f5I
1A 4cT$ny8DrHn6,
шj)1Bmȳؖ~p\.ܪa?WuomzVucϝ;>{I̖%X䈍YR6'`>6O(L|@ɤ:ģz/˺79h4öCٰ4TiUE9(TR8+[1[߶̝
wڨ~wUMSYsr#mݹඔkSq9}r>=}'W;A:7;YHL~'@DR˅4ID>&-āWP= uϐjzQҏZN-ZjZAS T$0yY>E4bEUa}oOy}yqI}trxi#|')ĠV*PFbЊ%+gxc_-:[WOWVG9j>s鐚&tXAZ|]kU[_oG!njdPp9LwjT{$Zݣ6I|U8VEq?;% =--%wܿ/Rx3of5
x[&%{i)":urͪZ*G`K7SIs릞;j\K}0[=RF &JpJq䰉kش6,%hJqO{d$e$}ВYtBFͨ0
.)J""xF3E94>BzBp4σutSOg|JMk>uI<
YC#ʠ:ڴ[\'V 4!>F&M_`㻣Vh>[W <{ }C
0ԟsZ
LP"AЂMz>tT;]|2Z79ܺ5(hk
=`DVt#P{DM}PCn@}S(|`@YS9ݲeǀxԜлu`Hd˕N] #RRP$S'hI#r
B!,`@n%`{ [AX;k ab
.u@Gҩ;vjtW*kR1eb -x[b~ILg2+IɴaX9yDMf#T`B[ụDKak`DݜrA+żMCFӀqQDZUj@5YQeM錩ùo9rHy:unsx9tpĄ'HwT %=^C,Â?9fh<琉{KDOAЌ7_A}ŸGF6we
M
l$T)f DfO
~5lwnrm,{v?GsZZ)/ ]pl>!_Nw\Գ&VAB glC($'pC!fR;==Mrʳ"#@7oX>ť`N)mtй+>q^v.iԚ'ei[%ͺE[9(ĿKӺJ j'-H#ohkoռE_xue8Hi K-CrB`}.E6Gh?40%Ϳl ]pZ#>{+UVj'G&,m+VoAV-iV9дZZ,<>ki8,@r;
pSJ$l%K1w =hZz
F<#W=`z:_ #0
l1ZJ[Y,,aThjUVz
of %lD~Ё*tҝŅetiQ;n/)ySJYQ6/mz+U>cCLmRGM}Bu߲!&]1=ZSYɰ\R
>16Dȸau-`byfc]Wѹq}O8l1D,g @?aRo5> T#!EX+LTBYah [s6/z}uxN`+\rW["LJ}=Nݡe5m*IH
aۻ(Qܦ&;alâ˘c_- # >(cpHl`_<Շ> B
LRE\~1~1UŠP=)
]`uX]oXL+*)Gpϟ
sWyG[?Oy |