More Households are Cell Phone Only

In a high-tech shift accelerated by the recession, the number of U.S. households opting for only cell phones has for the first time surpassed those that only have traditional landlines.

Twenty percent of households had only cells during the last half of 2008, according to a new survey released Wednesday. That was an increase of nearly 3 percentage points over the first half of the year, the largest six-month increase since the government started gathering such data in 2003.

The 20 percent of homes with only cell phones compared with 17 percent with landlines but no cells.

That ratio has changed starkly in recent years: In the first six months of 2003, just 3 percent of households were wireless only, while 43 percent stuck with only landlines.

From:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hy364yHuEwLK2alU6lD7DOoYhWtgD98122LO1