One of the great inventions in human history seems to have its days numbered in the way we’ve always known it. Faced with the rise and dominance of mobile telephony , is the landline destined to disappear? It seems that this is the case if we take into account that in some countries internet contracts are no longer linked to landlines and, furthermore, a recent study has been prepared which analyzes precisely the “days of life” that could be left on telephones fixed.
Is the landline destined to disappear?
There are questions that leave doubts and others that have an obvious answer, like this one that we are asking ourselves about the “life” that remains on the landline. According to recent British investigations, but also according to the data provided by the different reports of the CNMC (National Commission of Markets and Competition in Spain) over the years: the landline is destined to disappear.
It seems that we are at the gates of the end of an era or perhaps in fact, it ended some time ago. In Spain it seems that we “resist” but for one reason only: telephone contracts, although many of them (if not almost all of them) are still linked to a fixed number. On the other hand, elderly people also continue to bet on the landline, given the impossibility of understanding the vast majority of functions that today’s smartphones have.
However, the figures do not lie and only in our country an average of 300 landlines per day are currently canceled . Something that also happens in other countries.
Why do we run out of landlines?
The problem of the landline phone , which until 2010-2012 was present in 70% of families, has been, since the birth of the smartphone, the cost . The fixed cost offers and plans have not been able to surpass the offers that mobile phones have and with the advancement of the Internet in everyday life, the fixed telephone no longer has many reasons to exist.
The announced end of the landline
The landline telephone technology has not been very long, in fact its life is around 145 years, which compared to other analog technologies, such as books (455 years), is much shorter. However, it does leave an inheritance since without landlines, mobile phones would not have been born, much less, the current smartphones.
In the early 2000s, it was unimaginable to think of one’s home without a landline, perhaps even fashionable and arranged in a specific location. The telephone inhabited the house , even setting the space to be used, such as an armchair or a coffee table. When we completely say goodbye to the landline, it will also be the turn of the telephone directories, now almost completely useless.
According to the aforementioned British study, only in the United Kingdom, until 2011, the percentage of households that owned a fixed telephone was around 70% , ten years later the number has decreased even more and only 59% still have one at home . In another decade, the number will be less than 50%.
The internet connection is the only thing that “saves” the landline
As we have already mentioned, today many of the landlines that are still active or that are even registered do so because they are linked to an internet contract, however, this will not be a valid “salvation” for long. Since many if not all phone companies offer Internet-only packages for the home.
It is precisely in the advance of internet use, which during this pandemic has grown in all age groups and in the duration of use, the explanation for the not too slow decline of fixed lines. The more the Internet is a part of our lives , the smarter the services on smartphones will be and the more capable of simplifying our lives , and the more evident the gap in the use of landlines and mobile phones will be.
In some European countries, such as France, the possibility of signing a fixed telephone contract has not existed for a long time. From France, the passage to other countries such as Spain is short and will last, more or less, the time of the future generational change. So it seems that finally we will have to prepare to say goodbye to the landline.
