Landline Phones Dying In The U.S.?

By Surojit Chatterjee email: s.chatterjee@mobilenapps.com | Dec 28, 2012 10:14 AM EST

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Landline phones are dying in the U.S. and may soon become obsolete, if reports are to be believed.

According to a recent study, half of Americans have ditched landline phones. However, that's not surprising - these days most people answer calls on smartphones or mobile phones and, therefore, landline phones may be redundant.

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The study, called the National Health Interview Study, was conducted by Center for Disease Control or CDC. The study, which was conducted throughout the year, asked over 20,000 households all sorts of questions, ranging from health insurance to whether or not they used a landline phone.

15.9% of the households surveyed, said they had a landline phone but hardly used it. Many said they had a landline phone solely for the purpose of using the Internet at home. In contrast, 35.9 percent of households interviewed, said they used wireless only for making and answering their phone calls.

The study also found that younger people were more prone to use wireless phones than the older folks. But among those who already had a landline for several years, very few chose to abandon it.

The study indicates that richer people are more quick in buying wireless phones than poorer households. It could have widespread implications as major phone companies may plan to exit landline business in years to come.

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