Well ... I'm Back In Debt

[Eagle]

As another poster mentioned, as little as 15 years ago, only some people had cell phones and then suddenly it seemed like overnight everyone just HAD to have one.

Much like the TV is now a need (or 2, 3, 4 sets) a cell phone is now a need. People like having access to texts, social media, email, apps, etc. all in one place. Also, people don't have landlines anymore.

I have never seen a single carrier/plan that insists you pay incrementally.

I haven't either... So strange.

[Gailete]

people don't have landlines anymore.

I thought as much until I talked with the Verizon repairman and he said you would be surprised how many people still have landlines - LOTS and LOTS. If I hadn't needed to get the cell phone for 2step authroization on Amazon, I still wouldn't have one. But I still keep the landline.

[Eagle]

I thought as much until I talked with the Verizon repairman and he said you would be surprised how many people still have landlines - LOTS and LOTS. If I hadn't needed to get the cell phone for 2step authroization on Amazon, I still wouldn't have one. But I still keep the landline.

You are probably right. We haven't had a landline for at least 5 or 6 years.

I'd say there's a variety of factors including income, location, and generation that has an impact.

From May 2017:

"It feels like everyone has migrated to using their smartphone for everything. So, how many people still use a landline phone in 2017?

The short answer is: more than you’d think. Or, at least, it turns out more people still use a landline phone than we would have guessed.

We’d assume that more and more people are choosing to save money by tossing their landline phones, and only using their cell phones.

50.8% of American households are “wireless only homes.”

According to this month’s report by the U.S. Center for Disease Control National Health Information Survey (NHIS), 45.9% of American households still use a landline phone as of December 2016."

https://www.textrequest.com/blog/how-many-people-still-use-landline-phone/

[~bs]

Yeah, I was going to say that like half of households still have landline.

[Eagle]

Yeah, I was going to say that like half of households still have landline.

"According to this month’s report by the U.S. Center for Disease Control National Health Information Survey (NHIS), 45.9% of American households still use a landline phone as of December 2016."

Of note: This figure above is down 2.6% since December 2015, and has been dropping by an average of 3.7% year-over-year since 2010.

If that pattern continues than in 10 years less than 10% of households would have landlines by 2027. Now, I understand it's probably for a bell curve so at some point 3.7% may increase or decrease substantially. But for illustration purposes...

45.9% 3.7 2017
42.2% 3.7 2018
38.5% 3.7 2019
34.8% 3.7 2020
31.1% 3.7 2021
27.4% 3.7 2022
23.7% 3.7 2023
20% 3.7 2024
16.3% 3.7 2025
12.6% 3.7 2026
8.9% 3.7 2027