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Landline Replacement Is Actually Happening

For some time now, mobile industry players have been talking about landline replacement. In the past the evidence for this potential trend was skimpy and mostly anecdotal data. We’ve heard a lot about consumers who were moving away from landlines and migrating toward using their mobile phone as their only – or at least primary – telephone.

But now, there is solid evidence showing that total and partial landline replacement is actually happening. According to recent NPD Group consumer data, 12 percent of wireless subscribers have earned the vaunted titles of “cord cutters,” or “total replacers” in that they use their mobile phone as their only phone -- cutting the landline cord entirely.

Another 42 percent of all wireless subscribers report that although they have a landline they still use their mobile phone as their primary phone. As expected, younger subscribers tend to be cord cutters or partial replacers in larger numbers than older subscribers.

NPD’s consumer data also shows that the 18-to-24 year old age group boasts the largest total number of landline replacers, with nearly a quarter of this age group stating they have no landline. That’s not too surprising, since these users tend to share the following key attributes:

They live away from home -- either at college or in other group situations
They move more frequently than older consumers do

Cord Cutters

Because members of this age group are more likely than others to share a residence with people other than family members -- in an apartment or dorm, for example -- their wireless phones give them the ability to have their own unique phone numbers, without the added bother and expense of installing additional landlines.

In addition, this age group reported the largest number of subscribers. Nearly six in 10 said they have a landline, but still use their mobile phone as their primary phone. As expected, only 15 percent of these subscribers said they used a landline most often.

The segment with the second-largest number of cord cutters and partial replacers is the 25-to-34 age group. More than one-fifth of subscribers in this age group are also total replacers, and more than 40 percent reported using their wireless as their primary phone.

Nine percent of subscribers in the 13-to-17 age group stated they only had a wireless phone. No doubt this is because most are living at a home with access to a family landline.

As expected, the subscribers in the older age brackets, 55-to-64 and over-65, tend to have the smallest number of total and partial replacers -- with less than 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively. These age groups were also more likely to report using their landline phones the most -- 76 percent of those 65 and older, and 58 percent of those in the 55-to-64 age group. These users are comfortable with a landline and are therefore less likely to completely drop traditional landline service.

According to NPD’s research, there is plenty of room for growth in this market, with just 12 percent of subscribers claiming to be cord cutters. As younger subscribers move out of the home, they are more likely to be dependent on their wireless devices, and may forgo landlines all together.

In addition, as lower rate plans with large numbers of “anytime” minutes continue to grow, wireless only will continue to make cord cutting an enticing option.

- Charul Vyas, Senior Wireless Specialist