The number of mobile-only homes in the US surpassed those with a landline telephone for the first time in the second half of 2016, research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed.

According to its National Health Interview Survey, covering close to 20,000 households, 50.8 per cent of US homes did not have a landline telephone, but did have at least one smartphone during H2 2016, an increase of 2.5 percentage points year-on-year.

This equates to more than 123 million adults and 44 million children.

The US health protection agency also found 3.2 per cent of homes had no telephone service at all, whether mobile or landline. About 7.4 million adults and 2.3 million children lived in these households. The percentage of adults living without any telephone service increased “slightly but significantly” over the past three years, the study observed.

In comparison, Ofcom revealed in early 2017 only 18 per cent of UK homes were mobile-only. This is probably because landlines are usually required to get fixed line broadband, while in the US it is easier to get broadband and TV via a cable provider.

Socio-economic factors
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study also revealed some interesting facts about those who lived in mobile-only homes.

For instance, adults living in and “near poverty” were more likely than those on higher incomes to live in households with only mobile phones.

In a reflection of the Centers’ focus on health, the report also said “wireless-only” adults were more likely to have experienced financial barriers to obtaining healthcare, and were less likely to have received an influenza vaccination during the previous year.