Florida Hangs Up On Hardwire Phones

TALLAHASSEE -- As phones go in pockets, they go out of houses.

A new report on Florida's telecom industry from the Public Service Commission shows about 600,000 wired customers went away during 2018... part of a decline of almost two million from 2014.

Meantime, the number of wireless accountshas reached 20.8 million... almost one phone for every Floridian.

Declines in wired service have been partially offset by growth in business VoIP (voice over internet) lines.

CenturyLink, the largest residential landline company, which serves parts of Orlando as well as Fort Myers and Tallahassee, saw a 30 percent decline, while Frontier, which serves the Tampa Bay area and Sarasota, saw a 24 percnet drop. AT&T, which serves several Florida regions, saw a decline of almost 20 percent.

The report said 57.5 percent of Florida households were wireless-only in 2017, higher than the national average, although accounts declined by a slight 0.4 percent in 2017.

Material from the News Service of Florida was used in this story.


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