More homeowners, renters expected to cut phone cord

Adam Steen doesn’t worry about being tethered to a phone cord at home. His phone has no cord.

Steen is among the 20-somethings who don’t want to be hogtied to a land line. Instead, Steen goes wireless all day, every day. He and his trusty cell phone are seemingly joined at the hip — or belt holder — and he sees land lines as little more than future museum pieces.

“For me it’s a cost thing and a convenience thing,” says Steen, 25, an investment counselor. “Once I got into the cell phone age, I bypassed a land line completely.”

Of his friends under age 30, Steen can think of only one who has wired residential service.

At a time when homeowners increasingly configure high-tech devices throughout the house, a growing number choose to hang up on their old corded phones.

“A fairly good percentage of young people have only a wireless device,” says Jay Ellison, chief operating officer of U.S. Cellular. “But as the older generation of homeowners move into their golden years they will be more comfortable with just a wireless phone around the house. They’ve grown up with improved technology and they’re more competent with it.”

Ellison says more than 15 percent of customers have ditched century-old phone technology in favor of wireless. U.S. Cellular estimates that number could soar above 40 percent in the next five years among its homeowners and renters.

Cell phone minutes have already eclipsed land lines in one important measure. In early 2005, residential wireless surpassed land lines in minutes of use.

In Steen’s case, wireless has other advantages. He needs one phone for home and business use and he can check messages with a single call. With features such as free long distance, energetic ring tones, music downloads, Internet access, news briefs and weather advisories, cell phones may provide homeowners ample reasons to sever the phone cord.

Ellison says this marks a larger change, to a “single phone number for life.” Phone numbers are now associated with a person, not a place. “We already see people keep one phone number even if they move from one home to a new home in another city,” says Ellison.

Cell phones may also take on a home management role to monitor from afar ever more sophisticated home appliances.

Although cell phone users are charged by the minute, the cost per month may be actually cheaper for the homeowner without fees for a hard-wired phone.

A typical cellular plan in the U.S. might begin at $39 for 1,500 minutes per month compared to around $35 for a standard land line. But you’ll pay extra for long distance with a corded version.

According to the wireless industry association, the average cell phone bill is $49.42 and the average minutes per month are nearly 2,000. That compares to 2003 when $49.56 bought 500 minutes.

So does this mean a home shouldn’t be wired for traditional land lines? Probably not. The lines may be needed at resale time as potential buyers may not yet be attuned to wireless technology.

Pamela Wright of Qwest says “convenience is still an issue for lots of customers for whom wireless technology is simply something they’re not interested in.”

She points out that virtually all homes built in the U.S. are complete with wiring for land lines.