More wireless phone customers are cutting the cord

I really, really hate local phone service. With DSL service up to 640Kb (shitty at best) and stripped-down phone service (no call waiting, caller ID, etc.), we paid $90/month. Unless you are tied down to your land phone for dial up Internet and don’t have a cell phone, I don’t see too many reasons to keep this service.

We cancelled our service a couple of months ago, and I don’t regret it one bit now. I understand that most people have to keep them for business reasons and some keep them for local calls, but I am speaking about the rest of us who are rarely on the phone. I say rarely, which for me is less than 6 hours a month.

Anyway, I say screw your local exchange carrier and cut the cord if you can.

Here’s a funny quote from this article:
“It will be interesting to see if these young people who have abandoned land-line phones will turn back to them as they grow older or if wireless will be able to serve all their needs,” said Travis Larson, a spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, a Washington-based industry group.

I find this interesting, and it makes me think:
1) I do not believe cell phones will become LESS popular and LESS entrenched in society the older we get.
2) the technology for cell phones will likely not stagnate. I currently surf the web and send email, pictures and video from my cell phone for $50/month. What innovation has POTS offered lately? DSL? It has taken years for DSL to catch on, it is still not widely available and it is not very cost effective when combined with your regular phone service.
3) moving back to a land line as I grow older will be like baby-boomers moving back to pulse dialing from touch tone.

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