Consumers Giving Up Landlines

Mobile and Internet-based phones are replacing landline phones in US households as younger Americans lead a movement to newer technologies, reports USA Today. The number of homes depending on wireless phones jumped 159% between 2004 and 2007. Nearly 35% of people 25-29 years old lived in wireless-only households in the second half of 2007, more than double the percentage of wireless-only 30-44 year olds.

Overall, one in six US households were wireless last year, a National Center for Health Statistics study found. States with the highest rate of landline loss include New York, where they've plummeted 55% since 2000, according to another report, and New Jersey, down 50%. Telcos are struggling as they pay to maintain wire that’s returning declining revenue. (More cell phones stories.)