Many of us techno-junkies already live on their mobile devices, so perhaps this is no big shock. According to a Associated Press report on a new survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of homes that have eschewed a landline in favor of a cell phone now outnumbers those who only have traditional landline phone service.

Of course, there is more to the story than just that. The percentage of mobile-only homes is 20%, compared to non-mobile landline-only homes at 17%. The demographics are not surprising – the dominant number of cell-only households are younger folks between 18 and 29. Breaking it down, the report says that about a third of 18 – 24 year olds are cell-only, while that number increases to forty percent for 25 – 29 year olds.

Aside from age there are some interesting demographics represented strongly in the cell-only group: “the poor, renters, Hispanics, Southerners, Midwesterners and those living with unrelated adults, such as roommates or unmarried couples.”

So what about the rest of the population? The population of those with only one type of phone service accounts for less than half of households, leaving more than 60% unaccounted. According to the survey more than 60% of homes have a combination of traditional and mobile phone service. In an interesting additional bit of information, the survey shows that of that 60%, 24% (or 15% of total) rarely use their landline service. Some of them are forced to get a landline in order to get broadband internet, or (as is my personal case) get it because the pricing formulti-service bundles makes it cheaper to have the landline than not to have it.

The numbers have increased sharply since the last survey: five years ago only 3% of households were mobile-only, but of course the last several years have seen a marked improvement in cell phone signal coverage outside of urban centers and also in wireless data transfer speeds. The study indicates that the numbers are not altogether surprising based on the recession, stating that in the tough economy many have to choose one or the other, and increasingly the thought of going without a cell phone is … well, unthinkable.

Oh, and the study also shows that one in fifty (2%) have no phone service whatsoever.

What about our GearDiary readers? Have you gone mobile-only? If so, do you miss the landline? If you still have both, why?

Source: Associated Press
Phone Image Courtesy of Telephone Archive