Landline Going The Way Of The Dodo

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday April 21, 2005

Kirsty Needham Consumer Reporter

More people are shunning the traditional landline home telephone as mobiles consolidate their place in our lives.

Telstra has blamed a 12 per cent drop in local calls made, and fewer basic access lines on the consumer drift to mobile phones and email.

In the three months to March, there was an 11 per cent fall in time spent on national long distance calls from landline phones, and a 12 per cent drop in international call minutes.

In the same period, mobile phone revenue rose 7.6 per cent, as an additional 76,000 subscribers signed up. Time spent on mobile calls grew 5.6 per cent, and the number of text messages increased by 14 per cent to 567 million. More use of mobiles while travelling increased revenue from international roaming on mobiles by 53 per cent.

Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said mobile phone use in the community was reaching 90 per cent, andthat growth was due to competition in pricing.

In Europe, 10 to 15 per cent of households are now mobile only, he said.

Dr John Beaton, executive director of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, is co-ordinating a project looking at the social impact of the mobile.

"It has changed our lifestyles quite dramatically," he said.

"There is no line between work and home communication. It is very blurred. Our leisure time is invaded constantly."

The fall in landline phone use would continue, "driven by an employed, young population who change their residence more frequently ... and find it terribly inconvenient," he said.

But Dr Beaton said that as mobiles take centre stage, companies needed to ensure the product could be used by all sectors of the population. His 89-year-old mother would love to use a mobile, but the buttons were too small to push and she couldn't read the display.

Mr Budde said that fixed lines will not disappear because they are rapidly transforming into a broadband connection to computers offering high-speed internet, video and cheap voice calls.

A Telstra spokesman said Telstra had responded by introducing landline phones that are SMS capable.

"Home phones will increasingly look and feel like mobile phones," he said.

Telstra falters - Page 25

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home