While people around the world are learning to live without a home phone service, it seems New Zealanders are slow to follow their example, despite the large savings on offer.
Gavin Costello, from 2degrees, says the majority of households still pay for a traditional home phone, but admits the actual minutes of use has dropped 'phenomenally”.
New Zealanders are starting to ditch their home phone lines. Photo: File.
And he has the figures back this up. According to Commerce Commission statistics, residential fixed line 'free” calling plunged from over five billion minutes a year in 2008 to just over three billion in 2014.
The commission states: 'A growing proportion of customers were reported to now rarely use their land lines for phone calls – instead relying on their mobiles and applications like Skype to keep in touch with friends and family.
Even Spark now says phone calls over land lines is a 'legacy” product – a term usually reserved for a service a company wouldn't be offering today, if they weren't already doing it.
Spark's Sam Durbin says: 'Fixed access and calling is declining both here and around the world.
'In fact, those fixed legacy products like calling dropped below 50 cent of our revenue for the first time ever this year, which is huge considering that was essentially Telecom's core business.
'It really underlines the massive transformations happening at Spark but also in New Zealand and around the world."
Those who decide not to have a home phone service anymore often go 'naked”. They keep a landline to pipe broadband into their homes, but no longer pay extra to make calls from a normal home phone.
Figures from lines company Chorus indicate that in the 12 months to the end of June, 42,000 people opted to go naked - roughly the population of Nelson.
Of Chorus's 1.8 million land line connections, 159,000 were naked.
'I'm not able to share the exact breakdown of naked connections versus 'clothed” connections, but I can say they are popular," adds Sam.
Chorus spokesman Nathan Beaumont cancelled his own land line three years ago.
'It's a definite trend,” he says, 'but I guess a lot of people still aren't aware they can go naked.”
With a mobile in every adult's hand, and mobile calling costs dropping, home phones are becoming less important, and there can be real savings.
'Naked connections are around $20 per month cheaper than their clothed alternatives, and we know that many people consider their mobile to be their primary contact point these days,” says Sam.
3 comments
Not yet
Posted on 16-09-2015 15:48 | By penguin
I certainly will not change until voice quality on mobile improves significantly and my mobile phone battery can stand the 'pace' of heavier use!
Landline
Posted on 16-09-2015 18:11 | By R1Squid
Only. Last mobile went obsolete and don't intent trying to understand that which is available now. Will keep the landline as I enjoy 'egging on' all the scammers that seem to be the only ones that select my landline number.
Time for homework penguin!
Posted on 16-09-2015 20:09 | By groutby
You need to check out the new Smartphone range...on 4G particularly, the voice quality is excellent, and the battery life is "somewhat extended" with Lithium Ion and newer technology over the mobile you have, AND..with the recent introduction of wireless charging you don't even need to find the tiny little plug to plug in to re-charge!. Good advice for your needs is essential tho :)
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