Residential landline cord-cutting among U.S. households finally has hit 30% (well, actually 29.7%, according to Citi Invesment Research). That’s up from 28.5% in March 2010 and about 25% in the summer of 2009, and it will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to telco earnings reports.
Silicon Alley Insider, via SFGate, has more:
Over the past nine quarters, so-called “wireless substitution” has accelerated, with more than 1% of households cutting the cord every quarter, or 5% per year, [Citi Investment Research analyst Jason] Bazinet writes.
Connected Planet’s take,
Dan O’Shea:
It is almost startling to hear the cord-cutting figure is only about 30%. Back when it was below 10% — at least five years ago before many analysts were measuring it — there was some alarm about landline cord-cutting, but mostly a sense that telcos could reverse what then seemed a like a minor nuisance. In some cases, they did that by forcing consumers to have a landline to get discounts on other services.
Now, telcos would rather call themselves broadband service providers or TV operators, and the question facing them is not what to do in order to reverse the trend, but how much — or rather how little — they should spend to maintain legacy lines that will be used by less than half the country before this decade is half done.
That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:
The future is now. The pervasiveness of broadband and the economic readjustment our nation is now undergoing (and will for some time) brings into focus the possibility that basic broadband access may become a public utility and, regulated as such. Given the increasing penetration of broadband into all aspects of life, it is no different than water, power or other public benefit services (police, sanitation or transportation). Being old enough to remeber Ma Bell, I am sometimes nostalgic for the always on, no interruption status of the POTS, as opposed to the increasingly problemmatic internet service I receive from the largest company in the business.
After holding out for many years, yesterday I order my 3 home POTS lines service to be taken over by my cable provider. now Verizon formerly NYTEL, Bell, etc. I have had the same lines for 46 yrs and never thought I would switch. My bill vill now be less than 1/2 of what it was with better and more effiecient service.
I agree that this trend will continue, but what I don’t think many people realize is that there is a world of choices out there. Sure you can find some voip provider that will probably lower your current phone bill by half. Or you can just go cold-turkey and just use your cell phone.
There are other alternatives. I personally like the convenience of a regular phone and instead found and chose OOMA. It’s VOIP without the monthly charges of Vonage, etc. While it is not exactly free (you still have to pay federal taxes for 911 service, etc), it is way cheaper than the alternatives. I’m paying less than $15 YEARLY for unlimited phone service with all the bells and whistles (caller id, voicemail, etc). OOMA is a startup, but I hope they succeed. In the meantime, I’m enjoying the savings!
http://www.cuttingthebills.com/2010/04/cut-cord-with-free-phone-service.html