US Spending On Cell Phone Service Surpasses Land Lines

Accoring to an AP report, U.S. households are starting to spend more on cell phone services in 2007 as more Americans cutting the cord to their land lines, industry and government officials say.

The most recent government data show that households spent $524, on average, on cell phone bills in 2006, compared with $542 for residential and pay-phone services. By now, though, consumers almost certainly spend more on their cell phone bills, several telecom industry analysts and officials said.

The report says that a huge move of people giving up their land line service altogether and using cell phones exclusively, citing a market research firm.

To be sure, when corporate cell-phone use is counted, overall U.S. spending surpassed land line spending several years ago, analysts said. While there are roughly 170 million land lines in use nationwide, industry officials estimate there are close to 250 million cell phones. (These figures include residential and corporate use.)

The 2006 phone spending data, collected by the Labor Department as part of a consumer expenditure survey of 7,500 households, asked respondents what they paid on personal local and long distance services and cell phone plans, including taxes.

(December 18, 2007)