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Only 16 percent of Northeasterners live in cell phone-only homes, the lowest of any region. The highest frequency of wireless-only households is in the South, w
by frossie 16y ago
Only 16 percent of Northeasterners live in cell phone-only homes, the lowest of any region. The highest frequency of wireless-only households is in the South, where 29 percent live that way.
Can anyone here figure out the reason behind the statistic? I could imagine cell-phone-only usage being lower than average in rural areas with poor coverage, but the Northeast?
For the commenters asking "what good are landlines for", they still have their uses, eg. in households with children not allowed their own mobiles for various reasons, lower international call rates etc. (I know, you could say "VoIP" but the mainstream penetration of that seems to be on the low side).
- locopati 16y agoWeather? In case of power outage, a land-line will still work (assuming the phone lines aren't down). A cell-phone will work until your battery is gone.
- Zev 16y agoWeather is exactly the reason that my family (just outside of NYC) still keeps a landline around. Theres also the big blackout from a few years ago that hasn't really been forgotten. If you were to ask, I bet it would come up more often than you might think.
- trotsky 16y agoThe obvious thing that would correlate with the south would be average household income. Not all of these mobile only households are carrying $70/mo voice+unlimited text+large 3g quota plans, many of them are likely on $5-$15/mo prepaid options because they are cheaper than carrying a landline.