More Households Using Only Cell Phones

WASHINGTON (AP) - There are more American households that have
just a cell phone and not a land-line phone than there are that
have a land-line but no cell phone. And the recession is apparently
speeding up that trend.
      A survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
finds that 20 percent of households had only cell phones during the
last half of 2008.
      That compares to 17 percent with land-lines but no cells. It’s
the first time the number of cell-phone-only homes is larger.
      The percentage of homes with just cell phones grew by nearly 3
points over the first half of last year. And one of the authors of
the report says it’s partly due to a recession that has forced many
families to try to save money wherever they can.
      In addition to the homes that have just cell phones, another 15
percent have both land-lines and cells but take few or no calls on
the land-lines—often because they are wired into computers. That
means that about a third of households are reachable only by cell.