As mobile phones are becoming more robust with e-mail, text, music and video capabilities, apparently more and more people are opting out of land-line telephone service altogether.  Coincidence?

According to an article in the Peoria Journal Star, people across the country are forgoing traditional home telephones for wireless handheld devices:

It’s a national trend. More than 20 million U.S. households – 17 percent of all homes with phones – are using only a cellular phone, according to a recent survey by the Nielsen Co.

That’s up from 4.2 percent of households that were wireless only when surveyed in 2003.

And, according to a recent article in the Daily Herald, when it comes to cutting the cord, Illinois is leading the way in the Midwest with 16.5 % of households no longer using a land-line:

…Illinois came out ahead of other Midwest states, including Wisconsin (15.2 percent), Indiana (13.8 percent) and Missouri (9.9 percent).

Despite this growing national trend, the Peoria Journal Star points out there are ongoing wireless access issues in places like Vermont, where mountainous terrain can create reception problems, and only 5.1 percent of households have made the switch to cell phone only.

Have you cut out your landline at home? You wouldn’t be alone, according to readers who responded an informal Capitol Fax Blog poll here.

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