Its Official – Brits Have Abandoned The Landline

The UK has become a nation of mobile phone aficionados, having nearly completely abandoned traditional landline phones in favour of mobile devices, a new survey has found.

Research by London broadband provider Relish has found that half of UK consumers ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ use their landline to make calls, and in fact only have the service so that they can access the internet at home, with almost half of people with a landline connection unaware how much the service costs them each month.

Over a quarter of Britons do not even know their home phone number, the survey found, preferring instead to use their mobile, with one in ten of us not even plugging in our landline.

Neglected

Overall, making phone calls via a landline came fifth on the list of reasons for having one, Relish found, as the convenience of mobile devices became a major factor behind the decline of the landline.

The range of services offered by mobile devices help  to set them apart from the traditional home phone, the survey found, with one in four saying that the lack of caller ID is what prevents them from picking up, whilst a fifth confessed that they can’t be bothered to reach for the home phone.

35 percent of survey respondents said they ignore their home phone every time it rings, just in case it is an unwanted sales call.

“It’s a sign of modern times that our landlines are increasingly going unused,” said Will Harnden, chief marketing officer at Relish. “Despite the fact that many people aren’t using their landline for its intended purpose, they are forced to pay monthly charges for line rental, on top of the cost of their broadband.”

“It seems like now is the time the capital can finally wave goodbye to the landline.”

Research from Ofcom earlier this year found that the cost of landline connections was at its lowest point for ten years as operators look to keep customers. Landline subscriptions fell 28.5 percent between 2003 and 2012, but Ofcom says it is noticing that the cost of some standalone packages is increasing.

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