The UK has become a nation of mobile phone aficionados, having nearly completely abandoned traditional landline phones in favour of mobile devices, a new survey has found.
Research by London broadband provider Relish has found that half of UK consumers ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ use their landline to make calls, and in fact only have the service so that they can access the internet at home, with almost half of people with a landline connection unaware how much the service costs them each month.
Over a quarter of Britons do not even know their home phone number, the survey found, preferring instead to use their mobile, with one in ten of us not even plugging in our landline.
Overall, making phone calls via a landline came fifth on the list of reasons for having one, Relish found, as the convenience of mobile devices became a major factor behind the decline of the landline.
The range of services offered by mobile devices help to set them apart from the traditional home phone, the survey found, with one in four saying that the lack of caller ID is what prevents them from picking up, whilst a fifth confessed that they can’t be bothered to reach for the home phone.
35 percent of survey respondents said they ignore their home phone every time it rings, just in case it is an unwanted sales call.
“It’s a sign of modern times that our landlines are increasingly going unused,” said Will Harnden, chief marketing officer at Relish. “Despite the fact that many people aren’t using their landline for its intended purpose, they are forced to pay monthly charges for line rental, on top of the cost of their broadband.”
“It seems like now is the time the capital can finally wave goodbye to the landline.”
Research from Ofcom earlier this year found that the cost of landline connections was at its lowest point for ten years as operators look to keep customers. Landline subscriptions fell 28.5 percent between 2003 and 2012, but Ofcom says it is noticing that the cost of some standalone packages is increasing.
What do you know about fibre broadband? Take our quiz!
AI push sees Alphabet's Google saying it will consolidate its AI teams in its Research…
Beijing orders Apple to pull Meta's WhatsApp and Threads from its Chinese App Store over…
Key milestone sees Intel Foundry assemble ASML's new “High NA EUV” lithography tool, to begin…
Oracle's huge AI, Cloud investment in Japan will meet growing local demand and address digital…
People who create sexually explicit ‘deepfakes’ of adults will face prosecution under a new law…
Protest at cloud contract with Israel results in staff firings, in addition to layoffs of…
View Comments
Until someone is sick and you are trying to contact for some advice and help and cannot get through due to poor signal and keep missing call back calls. Land lines are still the most reliable form of communication
"Its Official – Brits Have Abandoned The Landline
The home phone is dead, long live the mobile phone, Relish survey finds"
What nonsense! By the author's own admission, only half of us have (almost) abandoned the home phone, so what does he think the rest of us use - smoke signals?!
All that needs to be done is for
Fixed line service providers to create innovative services that will attract more user to use fix line side by side with mobile phones I think they are complimentary.