More US Consumers Using Wireless Phones Only, USA Today Says
Washington, July 28 (Bloomberg) -- More U.S. consumers are disconnecting their home telephones and opting for wireless alternatives, USA Today reported, citing a survey conducted by the Yankee Group consulting firm. The survey found that 2 percent of all U.S. wireless customers use their wireless phones only, up from an unmeasurable few in 1998, and customers have shifted about 12 percent of their regular phone calls to wireless, USA Today said. Wireless phone use is growing because of falling prices and increasing quality and will increase more than fourfold by 2004, reaching 554 billion minutes of traffic by 2004, up from 105 billion minutes of use in 1998, USA Today reported, citing Yankee Group analyst Mark Lowenstein.
Motorola Inc., the world's second-largest cellular phone maker, last week offered to put another $400 million into cash- strapped Iridium LLC if bondholders agree to swap $1.5 billion in debt for a 25 percent stake in the global satellite-telephone company, investors familiar with the plan said yesterday. |
