Community Corner

New Yorkers Cling to Landlines

Very few of us are mobile-only, compared to the rest of the country.

Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner is crowd-sourcing an audit of split telephone poles in his town.

That triggered a question not specific to Greenburgh: who has a home phone hooked up to a telephone pole any more?

It turns out New Yorkers do.

Find out what's happening in Yorktown-Somerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Centers for Disease Control looked last fall at the percentage of households that are wireless phone-only. The results show New Yorkers are clinging to their landlines.

NY has the second-lowest level of wireless-only households—18 percent. We're 49 out of  50 states, second only to Rhode Island, with 15.2 percent. Now, this is in households with children under 18, which are more likely to use only mobile phones, according to the CDC. Adult-only households are even less likely to do so.

Find out what's happening in Yorktown-Somerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nationwide, one in three households are wireless only—up a good bit from 10 years ago. In Mississippi, Arkansas and Idaho, more than 50 percent of households with kids use only mobile phones.

Should you go mobile-only? MSN Money says "make sure the move is right for your budget." Read more here.

Phone poles are an anachronism, says Patch blogger Miguel Hernandez. Here he discusses the problems with big old wooden poles in storms like Irene and Sandy.

Tell us in the comments about your choice to go mobile-only or keep a landline. And if you have a split telephone pole nearby, send us a photo—we'll do our own audit!


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