A
new study from The Nielsen Company reports that more than 20 million U.S.
telephone households (17 percent) are wireless substitutors--homes
without landlines that rely solely on a mobile phone for their home
telecommunications.
The
new research is from Nielsen Mobile, a service of The Nielsen Company,
and suggests that one in five U.S. households could be wireless-only by
the end of 2008.
As
the U.S. economy tightens and consumers look for ways to cut household
spending, many are eyeing that landline phone bill, which averages $40
per month per landline household. In addition to the universe of U.S.
wireless substitutors, Nielsen's study reports that:
- U.S. cord cutters tend to have lower income-levels--59 percent have household incomes of $40,000 or less
- Smaller households, with just one or two residents, are more likely to cut the cord than larger households
- Moving
or changing jobs are the biggest life events associated with cord
cutting: 31 percent of cord cutters moved prior to cord cutting and 22
percent changed jobs - Wireless
substitutors tend to use their mobile phones more than their landline
peers, 45 percent more per phone, but still save an average $33 per
month in a household of one subscriber, less $6.69 for each additional
wireless resident, when they cut the cord
Wireless
substitution doesn't work for everyone. Ten percent of landline phone
customers have experimented with wireless-only in their household, but
then returned to landline service. Nielsen reports that needing a
landline for another service (security system, satellite TV,
pay-per-view, fax machine, etc.) is the primary reason people mend the
cord.
"Landline
wireless substitution may just be the start," says LeBreton. "As
wireless data networks improve and speeds become more and more
competitive with broadband, some consumers may cut the Internet cord,
as well, favoring wireless data cards and other access through carrier
networks."
The
full paper, "Call My Cell: Wireless Substitution in the United States"
is available today from Nielsen Mobile. A free download can be found
in the Mobile section of The Nielsen Company's new blog, Nielsen Wire,
at http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/.