Facts and Figures

[andrewducker]

Interesting to note that more people have a mobile for personal use (95%) than a landline (78%).

40% of people use VOIP/Skype.

And mobile use is now the norm (66% -> 28%)

If the trend continues then landlines will exist in the UK only because BT insist you have a phoneline if you have ADSL.  And even then it looks very much like they'll only be "phone lines" up to the exchange - and it's all digital from that point onwards.

Comments

[princealbert.livejournal.com]

With such a small sample used to make claims have you thought about working for a pharmaceutical company?

[andrewducker]

Clearly I'm talking about my friends here. If people want large scale surveys then they can go dig them up themselves.

Did you think I was trying to make statements about the entire world???

[sageautumn.livejournal.com]

I'm in the US.

My husband and I both only have cell phones.
One of my best friends also has only a cell phone.

I think it's really pretty common here.
I also think/realize it's stupid to not have a landline.

[andrewducker]

Well, if the cost of a landline is trivial then it's a handy backup.

And it also depends very much on whether you're likely to lose power on a regular basis. In the middle of a city mobile outages are extremely rare. Out in the country I think I'd want something very reliable.

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

As someone who lives out in the sticks, I would say it's not power outages that are the problem, but the poor quality of mobile phone signal. With a landline, you get clear sound quality all the time. At home, my mobile signal comes and goes constantly. Some days conversations are crystal clear, other days it is almost impossible to hold a conversation.

[cybik.livejournal.com]

I certainly would not want to only have my mobile here, since I get okay (but far from perfect) reception on the top floor and pretty much nothing anywhere else in the house. Also, one side of the next village gets no reception and the other side is only okayish.

[davidcook.livejournal.com]

If the trend continues then landlines will exist in the UK only because BT insist you have a phoneline if you have ADSL

Interesting ... over here, it's possible to get "Naked DSL" (not as exciting as it sounds!), which simply means you get your zoomy Internet connection and don't have to pay for a landline.
Wonder if BT will ever wake up to the idea ?

[andrewducker]

I suspect only if forced into it. They rather like the monopoly and extra revenue, I suspect...

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

You can rent the line from companies other than BT, but as far as I know they all give you a telephone service too.

ADSL is essentially a new service tacked onto an existing distribution system, one originally designed to distribute telephone calls. We still need a physical wire coming into our house to get ADSL. The costs of providing a telephone service must be tiny compared to the cost of installing that wire and maintaining the infrastructure.

I doubt we would see much saving were the service offered limited to internet access only.

[andrewducker]

Oh, we probably wouldn't save a huge amount - but it might make them a bit clearer about their charging structure. £6 for a connection of any kind and then services layered on top of that (for instance). And even if the cost of providing a phone service is only a couple of quid a month that's still a saving.

[moniqueleigh]

Didn't mention this prior, but we basically have the "naked" DSL. We have a phone number for the landline, but it doesn't receive incoming nor make outgoing calls. It's purely DSL delivery. Can't even make calls to emergency services on it.