Cutting the Cord is Even More Common in Poor Households

Yesterday, in prepared remarks at the annual CTIA convention, the FCC's Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn highlighted a remarkable statistic about the critical importance of wireless telephone services for low-income Americans.  Chairwoman Clyburn noted that “The percentage of American adults who rely solely on commercial mobile providers for voice service has now reached 34 percent and for those whose incomes are below the poverty line, that figure is an amazing 52 percent.”   The statistics appear to be derived from a July 2012 Report about wireless substitution issued by the National Center for Health Statistics.  The NCHS report also found that nearly 40% of all "near poor" households rely solely on wireless services, compared with less than 29% for higher-income households.  These statistics, which show a steadily increasing preference for wireless services among the poor, are a strong rebuttal to recent legislative proposals seeking to limit Lifeline funding to only wireline services.