# Young People with Landlines **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068 "2022-02-07T19:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/1 "2022-02-07T19:18:12Z")
I occured to me the other day that I don’t know anyone under 30 who has a landline. (This includes people who have their own households, not people living with their parents.) I asked the youngest person I knew with a landline and they said many people they knew had landlines, though most did not. Is there any actual data available on the frequency of landlines by age group? (Again, preferably this would only include people in their own households.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/2 "2022-02-07T19:32:50Z")
This looks like the data you want: [Are most Americans cutting the cord on landlines? : Beyond the Numbers: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-8/are-most-americans-cutting-the-cord-on-landlines.htm) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/3 "2022-02-07T19:37:05Z")
For those who don’t want to read the link, I believe the salient number is that for those 40 and under, 92.8% of their telephony expenditures go to cellular phone service. A bit less than 8%. That probably undercounts the number of households that _have_ landlines because a landline is likely cheaper than a cell line and a household with both likely has multiple cell lines and one landline. On the other hand, it might overcount the number who actually use them because in some cases I expect the landline is effectively free with some kind of telecommunications bundle. Also the data is 5 years old and I expect the rates change rapidly. Here’s a [chart from a Canadian study](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/140623/cg-a001-eng.htm) with 3 different years and the number of households going cell only increases at like 8% _a year_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/4 "2022-02-07T19:45:16Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > On the other hand, it might overcount the number who actually use them because in some cases I expect the landline is effectively free with some kind of telecommunications bundle. Not only that, but in some cases (DSL internet) a landline is _required_. The last time I had a landline was a situation like that. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/5 "2022-02-07T19:53:54Z")
I know someone who does phone translation for medical appointments (she used to do in person a lot, but not for the last two years). She is required to use a land line. I think this is a requirement of the company she contracts for, not a law or regulation. Similarly someone who does mediation for some court issues. The court requires her to use a land line to call into the court from where she is bridged on with the parties (and their legal representatives, if any). I don’t know if this is state law or just a regulation by the court. I think they are both under 30 (as I get older, some people in their 30s look like teenagers to me). ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/6 "2022-02-07T20:00:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Not only that, but in some cases (DSL internet) a landline is _required_ . The last time I had a landline was a situation like that. “AT&T no longer offers DSL service” for new customers, although it hasn’t teminated my existing DSL service (yet). (“Please make a note of it…”) ---
**Author:** ![SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/7 "2022-02-07T20:04:23Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > A bit less than 8%. That probably undercounts the number of households that _have_ landlines because a landline is likely cheaper than a cell line and a household with both likely has multiple cell lines and one landline. _All_ the people I know who have landlines also have cell phones. I am not aware of anyone over 20 who does not have a cell phone. The only question for me is how many people also have landlines versus relying entirely on cell phones. (I’m wondering if land lines are currently on a trajectory to dying out entirely.) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/8 "2022-02-07T20:13:01Z")
Landlines are more reliable and higher audio fidelity than cell phones, which is likely why they are required (or preferred) for some jobs, so they’re not likely to go away completely in the very near future. And there are a few places that are remote enough that they were wired for phone decades ago but no one has bothered to build a cell tower close enough. But technology marches on, and the landline is likely not long for the world. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/9 "2022-02-07T20:15:31Z")
I still, sort of, have a landline, in that it’s a hardwired VOIP phone line that comes with my cable service along with cable internet. I used to have a POTS line along with DSL service but gave that up a while back. Is this survey distinguishing between POTS and VOIP service? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/10 "2022-02-07T20:17:13Z")
What counts and does not count as a “land line”? It all comes over the same fiber optic cable, right? Except in the sticks… ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/11 "2022-02-07T21:05:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I still, sort of, have a landline, in that it’s a hardwired VOIP phone line that comes with my cable service along with cable internet. I have this too. Our security system uses it, plus there is a hardwired phone for 911. It only costs about $9 per month more than just internet (we canned cable TV a couple months ago). We never answer the phone (ringer is off) and never give out the number.It’s cheaper than putting the security system on cell, although less secure (for certain values of secure, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/12 "2022-02-07T21:17:11Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > What counts and does not count as a “land line”? “Land lines” at least include the kind of telephone service everybody used to have, where the phone plugs into the wall, and phone service comes to your home through a dedicated phone line from The Phone Company. Do they also include the newfangled kind, where the phone plugs into something like a cable modem, and phone service is provided by your internet service provider? Or is that a separate category? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/13 "2022-02-07T21:27:59Z")
> [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](#): > > _All_ the people I know who have landlines also have cell phones. I (not surprisingly) know some people who you don’t know. And I know quite a few people with landlines but no cell phones. > [@DPRK](#): > > What counts and does not count as a “land line”? It all comes over the same fiber optic cable, right? Except in the sticks… There are lots of sticks. Including quite a few where nothing’s coming over fiber optic, because there’s no such cable anywhere close. Here, sometimes the land line works when the cell phone doesn’t; and sometimes the cell phone works when the land line doesn’t; and occasionally neither of them does, though since I got a cell phone that’s not a situation that’s lasted very long. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/14 "2022-02-07T23:05:58Z")
For the two people I was referring to earlier, they needed a PSTN connection (sometimes called a POTS line). You had to show the bill from Verizon. One of them could have had Comcast add phone service for $10/mo but the agency made her get a $37/mo “proper land line” instead. Most of the $37 was taxes. They were more concerned with hacking than voice quality I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/15 "2022-02-07T23:15:37Z")
I believe that type of phone line is getting harder to get. The phone companies claim that the central office hardware for POTS lines is obsolete and not available any longer. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/16 "2022-02-07T23:19:32Z")
The phone company discontinued POTS for my mom’s house, so what she has now is that all of the phones hanging on her wall connect to a little box that is basically a cell phone. It’s still the same phone number she’s had for decades, and she still makes and receives calls by picking up a receiver connected to a helical cable like she always has, but there’s no hardwired information connection to anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/17 "2022-02-07T23:53:57Z")
Many years ago when cell phones were getting popular I heard from several law enforcement and medical responder people that you should keep a landline as the 911 service could tell where you were calling from with a land line, but (at the time) when you were on a cell phone they did not… or at least couldn’t quickly figure it out. Has this changed? It’s actually the only reason I still keep a land line. There’s been an unheard voice message sitting on my land line for 3 years and some error code saying to call the phone company so I can’t even check it. The phone works, but I only use it when my cell battery is almost dead or I want guaranteed good reception. Nobody I know calls me on it; only telemarketers. It’s costing me $25/month. Am I wasting $300 per year for a safety back-up I don’t actually need? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/18 "2022-02-08T02:21:08Z")
Natural disasters are another reason to have land line backups: cell phone towers get blown over by hurricanes and tornadoes… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/19 "2022-02-08T02:23:01Z")
Another advantage of POTS lines is that they’re line powered and the phone company had generators in central offices to keep them working even in a power outage. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068/20 "2022-02-08T02:27:35Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > Many years ago when cell phones were getting popular I heard from several law enforcement and medical responder people that you should keep a landline as the 911 service could tell where you were calling from with a land line, but (at the time) when you were on a cell phone they did not… or at least couldn’t quickly figure it out. I have wondered, too, seeing as pretty much all cell phones now have GPS. You’d think they’d be set up where, even if you normally have GPS turned off, the 911 call could get the actual location of the phone as long as it can receive signal otherwise. Even if somehow you have cellular signal but not GPS signal, I would expect that, for location services to work as they do, the phone must cache the most recent location where it could reach GPS. Otherwise location services would fail. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/young-people-with-landlines/959068.md?page=2)