Amaze your Friends with Trivial Knowledge!

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just reported that, as of 12/31/04, there were 181.1 million wireless subscribers in the U.S. and 178 million landline (wired) lines. This is the first time wireless has surpassed wireline, and it is unlikely for that trend to reverse in the foreseeable future.

Note that this comparison is a bit unfair for a number of reasons. First, most households only have one wireline account, but may have several different handsets scattered about the house. On the other hand, each user in a household wanting to use wireless has to have their own phone. Second, there are other alternatives to wireline, most notably VoIP service which also are reducing the number of wireline accounts in this comparison.