Survey: Weak Economy Causing Some Consumers to Ditch Their Cell Phones

As the economy shows signs of further trouble, U.S. consumers are cutting back on their cell phone service – and some will even ditch their cell phones altogether.

According to a new survey of 2,005 Americans conducted by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) for the New Millennium Research Council (NMRC), two out of five Americans will cut back on cell phone service this year to save money.

 

According to the survey, 26 percent of consumers, or about 40 million Americans, are looking to cut back on their cell phone service. The survey finds that cell phone extras such as Internet connectivity, email and texting are the first to take a hit in an economic downturn.

 

Allen Hepner, scholar, New Millennium Research Council, said: “The era of cell phone penny pinching is officially here. Thanks to the recession, the U.S. cell phone marketplace is undergoing fundamental changes that will just get bigger as the economic downturn deepens.”

However he states that there is “clear evidence that most consumers will keep a cell phone during this recession.”

 

The survey finds that about 29 percent of 18-34 year olds and 28 percent of those living in households earning $35,000 a year or less have discontinued their telecom services. Two thirds of prepaid cell phone customers say they are saving money “compared to a landline phone or contract-based cell phones.”

 

In December last year, the company conducted a national opinion survey of more than 1,000 Americans that tried to answer questions about cell phone usage patterns in the U.S.

Topics covered in the survey included questions such as: “What portion of U.S. cell phone customers currently using postpaid/contract-based cell phone service might save money if they switched to the prepaid alternative?”