Editing Landline (section)

== Successors ==
===2000s===
[[file:Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants 1997-2007 ITU.png|thumb|Global fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants (1997–2007)]]
[[file:How mobile phones are overtaking landlines in Africa.jpg|thumb|Total landline vs. mobile phones in Africa (1998–2008)]]
In many countries, landline service has not been readily available to most people. In some countries in Africa, the rise in cell phones has outpaced growth in landline service. Between 1998 and 2008, Africa added only 2.4 million landlines.<ref name="ref 9">{{cite journal |last1=Aker |first1=Jenny C |last2=Mbiti |first2=Isaac M |title=Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa |journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives |date=August 2010 |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=207–209 |doi=10.1257/jep.24.3.207 |url=http://sites.tufts.edu/jennyaker/files/2010/09/aker_mobileafrica.pdf |access-date=11 November 2018 |language=en }}</ref> In contrast, between 2000 and 2008, cell phone use rose from fewer than 2 in 100 people to 33 out of 100.<ref name="ref 9"/> There has also been a substantial decline of landline phones in the Indian [[subcontinent]], in urban and even more in rural areas.

In the early 21st century, installations of landline telephones has declined due to the advancement of mobile network technology and the obsolescence of copper wire networking. It is more difficult to install landline [[copper wire]]s to every user than it is to install transmission towers for mobile service that many people can connect to. Some predict that these metallic networks will be deemed completely out of date and replaced by more efficient broadband and fiber optic landline connections extending to [[rural area]]s and places where telecommunication was much more sparse. In 2009, ''[[The Economist]]'' wrote "At current rates the last landline in America will be disconnected sometime in 2025."<ref name="ref 1">{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/14213965|title=The decline of the landline: Unwired |newspaper=The Economist|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108091900/http://www.economist.com/node/14213965|archive-date=2013-11-08}}</ref>

In 2004, only about 45% of people in the United States between the ages of 12 and 17 owned cell phones. At that time, most had to rely on landline telephones. Just 4 years later, that percentage climbed to about 71%. That same year, 2008, about 77% of adults owned a mobile phone.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Amanda |first1=Lenhart |title=Teens and Mobile Phones Over the Past Five Years: Pew Internet Looks Back |url=http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media/Files/Reports/2009/PIP%20Teens%20and%20Mobile%20Phones%20Data%20Memo.pdf |website=pewinternet.org |access-date=2018-09-02 |archive-date=2017-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829002611/http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media/Files/Reports/2009/PIP%20Teens%20and%20Mobile%20Phones%20Data%20Memo.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>  

===2010s===
In the year 2013, 91% of adults in the United States owned a mobile phone. Almost 60% of those with a mobile had a [[smartphone]].<ref name="ref 3">{{cite web|url=http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2012/February/Pew-Internet-Mobile.aspx|title=Mobile Technology Fact Sheet|date=27 December 2013|work=Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project}}</ref> A National Health Interview Survey of 19,956 households by the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] released May 4, 2017 showed 45.9 percent of U.S. households still had landlines, while 50.8 percent had only [[Mobile phone|cell phones]]. Over 39 percent had both.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/milestone-for-cellphones-vs-landline-phones/|title=Milestone for cellphones vs. landline phones|work=[[CBS News]]|date=4 May 2017|access-date=30 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616002951/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/milestone-for-cellphones-vs-landline-phones/|archive-date=16 June 2017}}</ref>

In Canada, more than one in five of households use cell phones as their only source for telephone service. In 2013, statistics showed that 21% of households claimed to only use cellular phones.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/28/10-facts-about-smartphones/|title=10 facts about smartphones|website=Pew Research Center|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-14}}</ref> Households that are owned by members under the age of 35 have a considerably higher percentage of exclusive cell phone use. In 2013,  60% of young household owners claimed to only use cell phones.<ref name="statcan.gc.ca">{{cite web|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/140623/dq140623a-eng.htm|title=Residential Telephone Service Survey, 2013|date=23 June 2014 |publisher=Statistics Canada|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023181115/http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/140623/dq140623a-eng.htm|archive-date=2014-10-23}}</ref> In 2019, 54% of Canadian households<ref>[https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210122/t002b-eng.htm Landline and cellular telephone use by province, 2019] by [[Statistics Canada]]. Retrieved 27 July 2023.</ref> and 86.4% of German households.<ref>[https://www.statista.com/statistics/468848/landline-phones-household-penetration-rate-germany/#:~:text=This%20statistic%20shows%20the%20share,at%20least%20one%20landline%20phone. Share of private households owning a landline phone in Germany from 1998 to 2022] by statista. Retrieved 27 July 2023.</ref> had a landline telephone.

===2020s===
In June 2020, it was reported that 60% of Australian adults used only mobile phones, with no landline.<ref>[https://www.acma.gov.au/publications/2020-12/report/mobile-only-australia-living-without-fixed-line-home Mobile-only Australia: living without a fixed line at home] by [[Australian Communications and Media Authority]]. Retrieved 27 July 2023.</ref> In 2021, only 14.5% of Australian and 29.4% of American households used landline at home.<ref>[https://www.worlddata.info/australia/australia/telecommunication.php Mobile communications and Internet in Australia] by WorldData.info</ref> In contrast, 73% of UK households still had a landline connection in 2020<ref>[https://www.statista.com/statistics/386778/share-of-calls-enabled-landlines-in-uk-hoseholds/#:~:text=Despite%20a%20slight%20rise%20from,having%20a%20landline%20at%20all. Is there a landline phone in your home that can be used to make and receive calls?] by statista. Retrieved 27 July 2023.</ref> though this could be in part explained by broadband packaging practices.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knight |first=Chris |date=14 May 2024 |title=Do you need a landline for broadband? |url=https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/broadband-and-tv/do-you-need-a-landline-for-broadband-/ |access-date=10 August 2024 |website=Money Saving Expert}}</ref> In 2022, 82.9% of German households had at least one landline phone<ref>[https://www.statista.com/statistics/760680/penetration-of-landline-phones-in-france/#:~:text=Landline%20phones%20penetration%20in%20France%201997%2D2019&text=It%20reveals%20that%2080%20percent,in%201997%20at%2094%20percent. Penetration of landline phones in France from 1997 to 2019] by statista. Retrieved 27 July 2023.</ref> while 73 percent of U.S. households had only a cell phone, 25 percent had a landline and cell service, and 1 percent had only a landline.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/this-weeks-cellphone-outage-makes-it-clear-in-the-united-states-landlines-are-languishing|title=This week’s cellphone outage makes it clear: In the United States, landlines are languishing|last=Hajela|first=Deepti|work=[[PBS]]|via=[[Associated Press]]|date=23 February 2024|access-date=25 February 2024}}</ref>

{{As of|2023|post=,}} Estonia and the Netherlands have retired the legacy parts of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). In the United Kingdom, the analogue copper landline network is due to be terminated in 2025. The VoIP replacement is known as "Digital Voice" (on a BT service) in the UK. France, Germany and Japan are also in the process of replacing theirs.<ref name="Which">{{cite web |last1=Fletcher |first1=Yvette |title=Digital Voice and the landline phone switch-off: what it means for you |url=https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/broadband/article/digital-voice-and-the-landline-phone-switch-off-what-it-means-for-you-aPSOH8k1i6Vv |website=Which? |access-date=19 July 2023 |language=en |date=20 January 2023}}</ref> 

By means of porting, [[voice over IP]] services can host landline numbers previously hosted on traditional fixed telephone networks. VoIP services can be used anywhere an internet connection is available on many devices including smartphones, giving great flexibility to where calls may be answered and thus facilitating remote, mobile and home working, for example. VoIP porting allows landline numbers to remain in use, whilst freeing them from actual landlines tied to one location. This is useful where landline numbers are believed to be preferred by callers, or where it is preferable that legacy landline numbers remain connected.