NEW analysis of landline data has revealed home phones will have disappeared from UK households by 2067.
Despite many home phone providers reporting a sharp rise in calls during the coronavirus crisis, nearly half of all households in Britain will have got rid of their landline by the end of the decade should the current rate of decline continue.
The research by personalised accessory company Wrappz which analysed data published by Ofcom revealed in 2016, 23.3 million households had a working home phone whereas now just 20.9 million have one.
Despite the analysis highlighting a growing shift away from traditional communication methods it is perhaps surprising the research also found more than a third of Brits still use an address book.
Commenting on the research, director of Wrappz, Liam Williams, said: “At a time when many people have had to change the way they keep in touch with friends and family it has been fascinating to explore the trends around home phone usage.
“While our research highlights that many of us are transitioning to more digital methods of communication, it is important to remember the many benefits of having verbal conversations.
“Although mobile phones provide us with the ability to do almost anything at our fingertips, the pandemic has reminded us that plenty of people still rely on using landlines to connect with the outside world.”
Despite being home to areas with some of the most ageing populations in the UK, people in the East of England have been embracing this shift away from home phones the most with the number of households with a working landline declining at a rate of three per cent each year – almost double the national average of 1.6 per cent.
In contrast, people in the East Midlands seem most reluctant to ditch their home phone with the number of households with a working landline declining at just 0.6 per cent each year.
Perhaps surprisingly the rate of decline in London falls directly in line with the UK average although this may be down to the fact many Londoners have already moved away from using a home phone.
