More and more turning exclusively to cell phones

Sun Sentinel

By CHERIE JACOBS, Tampa Tribune, Posted May 7 2001, 3:52 PM EDT

TAMPA -- Catching De Etta and Norb Dettlaff at home is hard enough, but catching them on their home phone is impossible: They haven't had one in more than a year.

Instead, the Dettlaffs, a retired couple who frequently travel, have a pair of Sprint PCS wireless phones they carry constantly.

They call their three grown kids. They make travel arrangements. They call each other when one is at the grocery store trying to decide which kind of hot dogs to buy.

``I never in a million years thought I'd get that used to it, but I can't live without it,'' said De Etta Dettlaff, 61. ``I'd give up the Internet before I'd give up the cellphone.''

The Dettlaffs are part of a small group of people _ called ``cord cutters'' in the industry _ who have disconnected their home phones and only have a wireless phone.

About 40 percent of the U.S. population has a cellular phone. And cord cutters are a tiny portion of that _ an estimated 2 percent to 3 percent, or up to 3.4 million people nationwide, who substitute their wireless phone for a home phone.

But that number is growing as the cost of wireless phones continues to drop and most packages include ``all-you-can-eat'' buckets of minutes.

Wireless users say the benefits include saving money on long-distance calls, the convenience of being reachable at all times, and no more annoying solicitors. Some wireless companies are beginning to market their phones as substitutes for traditional phones, called wireline or landline phones.

But wireless-only customers also have a few headaches to deal with, such as calls dropped mid-conversation or bad reception inside some buildings.

``Will a larger group of people decide to get rid of their old telephone line? I think the answer is probably yes, in the next five years,'' said Sam Simon, chairman and founder of the Telecommunications Research and Action Center in Washington, called TRAC. Who does this, anyway?

As empty nesters, the Dettlaffs are prime candidates to cut the cord. They travel in their motor home most of the year except winter, when they live in a Clearwater mobile home. They never know where they will be from one week to the next.

``Who says you've got to live the conventional life, in a little box?'' said Norb Dettlaff, 62. ``We both like to travel a lot. We like to pick up on the spur of the moment and go.''

For them, a home phone is impractical.

``We're not settled down enough yet,'' De Etta Dettlaff said.

They don't fit the profile of the typical cord-cutter, who is single and not yet 40 years old, analysts say.

Barry White, 29 and single, fits the profile perfectly. He doesn't want to miss a call. He frequently drives to Orlando and likes having a phone with him in case of car trouble. Plus, he lives near his grandmother, who calls him several times a day.

``I find that it's cheaper to talk on my cellphone than it would be on a home phone,'' said White, who works as a detail manager at a Ford dealership in Clearwater. ``I was paying out two bills. With the plan I have now, I can call all the same places for less money.''

For a regular phone line, extras such as caller ID, call waiting and three-way calling _ which typically come free with a wireless phone _ can bring the cost of a home phone up to $30 a month, not counting long distance.

Largely because of cost, as much as 30 percent of wireless users have considered chucking their landline, said Travis Larson, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.

Mindy Fisher is one of them. The Nextel subscriber was inspired by her colleague, Brenda Schultz, who has been untethered since she bought her Tampa house in November.

``I'm just about ready to cut the umbilical cord,'' said Fisher, a 36-year-old single mom who works as the office manager of Wichman Construction in Tampa. ``I have basically stopped using my landline. I'm trying to decide how much I use the Internet access.'' A sociologist says cellphones can bring more control to people's lives.

``It can feel so empowering to be able to reach out and touch someone wherever you happen to be,'' said David Brain, sociology professor at New College in Sarasota. The best candidates to cut the cord want to be sure they get every call, he said.

``If you are status-anxious and concerned about being in the right place at the right time, ... you'd have to worry about whether you're there to get the call, and even having an answering machine may not be enough,'' Brain said. ``You may be concerned that your agent may call to tell you he's got this great Hollywood part for you.''

Steven St. James, 41, canceled his home and business phone lines two years ago, when he got his Sprint PCS phone.

``I just got tired of all the time getting home and having a bunch of messages,'' said St. James, who is a disc jockey. ``I had an ad in the Yellow Pages and was paying extra money for a business ⅛landline].

All I was doing was being bothered by solicitors. I got a million calls from solicitors and a couple calls from customers.''

Wireless-only customers sing the praises of their phones: no solicitation calls, their phone numbers are unlisted, and they have Caller ID and three-way calling. Servicing a malfunctioning phone is a breeze, no waiting for a repairman at your house.

But the unwired life isn't for everyone, analysts say. Families with teenagers or people who work from home probably wouldn't like it, they say.

Some people get frustrated with their calls disconnecting midconversation, or getting distorted inside some buildings. The wireless network in the United States is not as reliable as the traditional phone network.

If you call a company that puts you on hold for a long time, it can eat into your calling-plan minutes. Also, if you call 911, emergency dispatchers do not know where you are, if you do not call on a wired phone.

Wireless Internet access remains in its infancy and is dreadfully slow, they say.

Cord-cutters are more common in Europe, where the traditional phone service is of pretty poor quality, said Rudy Baca, telecom analyst with the Precursor Group, an independent research firm in Washington, D.C.

``If you have no other alternative, yeah, you're going to go for a wireless phone'' only, Baca said. ``If you have a pretty decent alternative, you're going to use it as a complement to your wired phone.''

Baca, like other analysts, predicts the niche will remain small until technology and the wireless network improves.

``Eventually, a majority of users will use their wireless phone as their only phone,'' said Knox Bricken, wireless analyst for the Yankee Group, an industry research firm in Boston. ``It's definitely going to happen at some point.''

Copyright © 2001, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

Answers

My parents mentioned this not too long ago, when Dad picked up a new cell phone at Kmart, with a great package thru Sprint.

The only thing is the computer needs a land line for the internet, and he is on quite a bit. funny, I just recalled they installed a second line for the computer. Guess they could cut that one and use the main number at home.

I've been debating re-activating my cell phone. I haven't missed it much in the last year, but it does come in handy now and again. I would still have the land line for the computer though, so i don't think it would save much. Also, we now have two computers on line. One on the ADSL and one 56k dial up. Kinda funny emailing back and forth when only about 7 feet away from each other. LOL

Gotta get that IM program back, I guess.....

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

One group they seemed to have missed are younger folks. My two youngest daughters both have cell phones and usually no land phone. They are in college and come home frequently (like for the summer). They use it for long distance and it is a safety measure for them when they are out and about.

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

Actually Beckie, they fit the profile just great:

the profile of the typical cord-cutter, who is single and not yet 40 years old, analysts say.

Not much of a profile, though. I'm sure your daughters have much better profiles....[pretend leer inserted here for chuckle]

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

We just had this same conversation at the dinner table the other night, we pay 43.00 monthly fees for the home phone, and that is BEFORE one call is made...the only thing extra we have is the phone secretary, that takes an incoming call if we are on the phone. and out here, the line gets droped anyway!

we cancelled outcell phones after a yr in this new house, as in the woods like this, they didn't work too well.

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

Both my wife and I have a cell phone in addition to our regular wall phones. But we only use them for a few minutes per month when away from the house to call back when running late, need some information, etc. Rarely more than 5 minutes per month.

I think they are a danger when used constantly. I think the radio radiation right next to your brain is not a good idea. Sort of like when kids sit within 12 inches of a TV set, or get their face up close to a microwave oven to watch something cooking. Bad practice.

When cell phones first came out they were bag phones with the handset separate from the transmitter. When they went to the little compact hand held models they also reduced the power to about 1/5 of what it was for the bag phones. Why? Would they tell us if they were finding more cancer or tumors inside/outside the heads of steady users. A guy I know who was a constant cell phone user got cancer of the right ear and they couldn't stop it from spreading. Coincidence?

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

Recently, I have been tasked to carry a work provided cell phone with me 24x7. Before that, we were issued beepers. The beepers worked well in that we were required to at least return the call within 30 minutes. We currently have an 'on call' schedule for people within specific areas to be available for a week at a time to handle after hours emergencies.

I've had the phone for two and a half weeks, and have been called at all hours of the night when I'm not on call. I make the on call schedule and post it for all concerned. The way I look at this cell phone is just a chain to my desk. There are certain times which I want to be out of touch, but now it appears that I can't be.

I just can't wait until I'm sitting on the toilet and get a call. Wonder what the response will be when they hear the flush?

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2001

sheeple, if you are getting calls when you are not 'on call' then that means that you have left the phone on. You should shut it off when you are not on call. If I had a job that did that to me I would accidently drop it in the toilet during a flush while talking to someone.... LOL

Now, in a similar vein....[to cell phones, that is]

Congress hearing about driver distractions

Sun Sentinel

By Jonathan D. Salant, The Associated Press, Posted May 9 2001, 11:26 AM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Congress is getting an earful about the dangers posed by drivers who chat on cell phones when they should be watching for red lights, sharp curves and stop signs.

An array of groups came before a House Transportation subcommittee today to bemoan what many safety experts consider traffic's new national nightmare.

"What we have is a growing safety problem," said Rep. Robert Borski of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the highways and transit subcommittee.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that a driver's inattention causes 20 percent to 30 percent of accidents -- about 1.6 million of the 6.3 million crashes last year -- or around 4,300 accidents a day.

Thomas Dingus, director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, said using cell phones and other electronic devices while driving is two to five times more dangerous than changing the radio station or eating lunch, which also can cause drivers to take their eyes off the road. A NHTSA survey found that 54 percent of drivers reported having a cell phone in their car and three-fourths of them have talked on the phone while driving.

"The cell phone in particular has become a significant highway safety concern," NHTSA Executive Director L. Robert Shelton told the subcommittee.

Last month, model Niki Taylor was severely injured when a car she was riding in crashed into a utility pole. The driver said he looked down to answer his cell phone before the car ran off the road.

And the 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Patricia Pena was killed in 1999 when the family's car was rammed by a vehicle whose driver ran a stop sign while talking on a cell phone.

"It is hard enough to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one for such a senseless reason as a phone call is an even bigger burden to bear," said Pena, founder of Advocates for Cell Phone Safety.

The industry says there is no evidence showing that drivers talking on cell phones are more likely to cause accidents. Statistics in Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee blame cell phones in fewer than 0.5 percent of crashes, said Tom Wheeler, president and chief executive officer of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, the trade group for the cell phone industry.

Cell phones can be invaluable to drivers in an emergency, Wheeler said.

"Wireless phones are the greatest safety tools invented since the creation of 911 itself," Wheeler said. "A wireless phone out of all potential driver distractions is the only one that could possibly save your life or the life of another."

Lawmakers need more information before they decide to legislate, said Harold Worrall, chairman of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, a nonprofit group that represents transportation departments, companies, universities, and others involved in high- tech projects.

"Decisions on the safe use of technology in vehicles should be based on sound science and not anecdotal information," Worrall said. "Presently, there is little substantive research to assist lawmakers and regulators in crafting public policy and drafting guidelines to protect the public. We need more solid research."

All sides agree drivers must be encouraged to keep their eyes on the road. Public service announcements delivering that message are being broadcast by the cellular industry group, working with the National Safety Council, and the ABC Radio Networks, working with the federal highway safety agency.

Copyright © 2001, The Associated Press

____________________

And the 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Patricia Pena was killed in 1999 when the family's car was rammed by a vehicle whose driver ran a stop sign while talking on a cell phone.

"It is hard enough to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one for such a senseless reason...is an even bigger burden to bear," said Pena, founder of Advocates for Cell Phone Safety.

And the 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Patricia Pena was killed in 1999 when the family's car was rammed by a vehicle whose driver ran a stop sign while eating a Big Mac.

"It is hard enough to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one for such a senseless reason...is an even bigger burden to bear," said Pena, founder of Advocates for Cell Phone Safety. ---

And the 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Patricia Pena was killed in 1999 when the family's car was rammed by a vehicle whose driver ran a stop sign while putting on make-up.

"It is hard enough to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one for such a senseless reason...is an even bigger burden to bear," said Pena, founder of Advocates for Cell Phone Safety. ---

And the 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Patricia Pena was killed in 1999 when the family's car was rammed by a vehicle whose driver ran a stop sign while lighting a cigarette.

"It is hard enough to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one for such a senseless reason...is an even bigger burden to bear," said Pena, founder of Advocates for Cell Phone Safety. ---

And the 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Patricia Pena was killed in 1999 when the family's car was rammed by a vehicle whose driver ran a stop sign while picking his nose.

"It is hard enough to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one for such a senseless reason...is an even bigger burden to bear," said Pena, founder of Advocates for Cell Phone Safety. ---

And the 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Patricia Pena was killed in 1999 when the family's car was rammed by a vehicle whose driver ran a stop sign while yelling at the kids in the back seat.

"It is hard enough to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one for such a senseless reason...is an even bigger burden to bear," said Pena, founder of Advocates for Cell Phone Safety. ---

And the 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Patricia Pena was killed in 1999 when the family's car was rammed by a vehicle whose driver ran a stop sign while thinking of a great new power source that would not hurt anyone and allow for free unlimited energy to even power space ships to faster than light travel.

"It is hard enough to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one for such a senseless reason...is an even bigger burden to bear," said Pena, founder of Advocates for Cell Phone Safety. ---

And the 2 1/2-year-old daughter of Patricia Pena was killed in 1999 when the family's car was rammed by a vehicle whose driver ran a stop sign while crying over the loss of her child in a senseless crash a year earlier when a driver pulled over to the side of the road to answer the cell phone and mowed down the child who was walking home from school.

"It is hard enough to lose a loved one, but to lose a loved one for such a senseless reason...is an even bigger burden to bear," said Pena, founder of Advocates for Cell Phone Safety. ---

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2001