Cell Phone Only

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.