Entelligence: Are cellphones really replacing landlines?

Every Thursday Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research contributes an interesting item of gadget-related research data. This week's factoid: Are cellphones really replacing landlines?

There's a lot of buzz about how cellphones will eventually replace wired landlines for most users but how great is that reality at the moment? In presentations to press and analysts over the past year, US wireless carriers have emphasized landline displacement as a major source of future growth. Carriers without ties to landline providers
(AT&T Wireless, Nextel, and T-Mobile) in particular see this as an opportunity to steal business from landlines,
and the carriers with landline ties (Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint) insist that the landline side does not bind their wireless efforts, and they will compete for this business as well. With wireless customer growth in the low single digits, US carriers have all announced that they are looking to landline displacement to add customers and keep minute usage up. The reality is somewhat different. According to a recent JupiterResearch survey, under six percent of US
consumers today are actually using their wireless phone as their only phone. We also believe that number will not rise above 10 percent over the next 18 months, as consumers are happy with inexpensive, high quality landline service. Now,
as for the replacement with landlines to VoIP connections... that's another story for another week.

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