Data Show 48 Percent of Illinois Households Are Wireless Only

It's been more than a decade since I've had a landline at my home. So, you could say I was near the leading edge of the "wireless only" movement.

Now, new state data show that about half of Illinois households only have wireless phone service. The Illinois Commerce Commission says 48 percent of households in the state relied on wireless-only service at the end of last year. According to the Springfield State Journal-Register:

Landline use dropped nearly 36 percent from 2005 to 2014 to approximately 5 million, even when Internet- and cable-based service was included...In contrast, the ICC estimates that there are nearly 13 million wireless subscribers in Illinois.

The number of POTS lines — the regulatory acronym for "plain old telephone service" — in AT&T territory is dropping by 1,000 a day, according to company estimates.

According to data, the national rate of wireless-only users is 41 percent.

There's only been one specific time I can think of that I wished I had a land line. That was when appearing as a guest of The Roger Hedgecock Show. I just wanted to have the sound of a good, clean POTS line for a national interview. But all went alright anyway.