One in Five May Go Mobile Only

Sep 19, 2008 by Mark Maier

First we heard that starting in 2009 Arbitron will take Cell Phone Only consumers into account on it's diary based ratings and that makes sense now with the new information released from Neilson Mobile that one in 5 households will use mobile phones exclusively by the end of 2008.  Today 17% or 20 million households don't have a landline, that figure jumped from 2005 when 8.5% were considered "Cell Phone Only". 
That doesn't mean gloom and doom for your clients that bundle landlines with cable television and internet access as the savings from bundling, it just means refining who you target in the marketplace.
"The study found that 10% of land-line phone users said they were previous cord-cutters who had reconnected. These "cord-menders" came back because they needed the land line for another service, bundled it with other services, or because it was too costly or unsatisfactory to go mobile-only."
Those that go mobile only are looking at saving money using one service...
" Underlying that assumption is that the majority of cord-cutters are at the lower end of the economic scale. Nearly 60% have household incomes of $40,000 or less, and 55% are renters rather than homeowners. They also skew younger, with 64% in the 18- to-34-year-old age range."
There is a story on both sides of this to tell your clients, those that are targeting the Cell Phone Only crowd can benefit with a message targeted to convenience, services, and affordability while the bundling providers of internet, cable, and landline phones can focus on the savings through bundling with a higher level of customer satisfaction. 
To read the complete article click hereRelated Categories