Home phone News

Older people keep home phones alive

Thursday 4 August, 2011

By Garnet Roach

A quarter of older households rely on their home phone.

Older people, who are far less likely to live in a “mobile-only” household, are helping to keep the home phone market alive, Ofcom research has revealed.

The regulator said 37% of people aged over 75 rely solely on their landline, compared to just 4% who only use a mobile phone to keep in touch.

“Older people are significantly less likely to live in ‘mobile-only’ households,” according to the research.

The regulator’s latest annual Communications Market Report showed a continuing decline in fixed-line phone ownership over the last 10 years, dropping from 93% in 2000 to 85% today.

Although there are 23.7 million landline connections across the country, more people have decided to completely ditch their home phone, with 15% of adults now living in a “mobile-only” household.

But despite this, home phone services are still in the lead as the main way of making calls, said Ofcom, with 51% of calls made over a landline.

While landline numbers have dropped in recent years, the fact that many people need a copper wire home phone line to access the internet has helped to keep demand steady.

There are now 18 million fixed broadband connections in the UK, said the regulator, with 75% of these using traditional home phone lines to get online.

At present, the only ways to access the internet without a landline are via Virgin Media’s cable network or through a mobile broadband connection via a dongle or a smartphone.