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Cutting the Cord
December 19, 2005
YEARS AGO, just after the FCC completed the first round of the PCS auctions, I remember people predicting the day when cell phones would replace land lines. At the time only 100 million people used cell phones worldwide and the prospect of landlines being replaced didn’t seem too likely. A decade and one billion wireless subscribers later, I think we are now on the cusp of that day soon coming.
According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, "a shift from wired communications to wireless has cost traditional phone companies such as SBC Communications dearly in lost business and revenue, and analysts suggest the trend is accelerating."
College campuses are among the first institutions to abandon land lines, which is ironic if any of you have faced the difficulty of siting an antenna facility on a university campus. American University, for example, will soon eliminate traditional phone service in its residence halls. So too will Marshall University. And the student directory at James Madison University lists mostly cell phone numbers from out of state. Still other universities, who once relied on telephone service in its residence halls as a cash cow, are "evaluating other options."
Gartner, Inc., a New Jersey think tank, figures up to 10 percent of nation's cell phone users have already cut the cord. In-Stat, a Scottsdale, AZ market research firm further states that wired expenditures topped $188 billion in 2003, but will shrink to about $160 billion by the end of 2008. And The Diffusion Group predicts U.S. wireless penetration will hit 75% by the year 2010.
So as Americans cut the cord at work and at home, as payphones begin to vanish, and as 9 out of 10 college students will attend classes this fall with cell phones, one has to wonder how long it will be before everyone cuts the cord. ■
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