Data shows 48 percent of Illinois households are wireless only

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — State data show that about half of Illinois households only have wireless phone service.
The Illinois Commerce Commission says 48 percent of households in the state relied on wireless-only service at the end of last year. Landline use has dropped 36 percent in Illinois from 2005 to 2014. There are about 5 million landline users in Illinois, including Internet- and cable-based lines.
The state has about 13 million wireless subscribers, the commission estimates.
Danisha Hall, the commission's director of diversity and community affairs, said households are considered wireless-only if they include at least one wireless family member and no family members with landline telephone service.
Illinois gets its data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The federal agency says the national rate of wireless-only users is 41 percent.
Changes to the Illinois Telecommunications Act this year won by AT&T allow for a two-year phase-out of Consumer Choice plans. Those plans provide basic landline service available for as little as $10 a month outside Chicago, according to the Citizens Utility Board.
Low-income consumers will still be able to apply for such plans through a federal program, and AT&T maintains there are ample low-cost alternatives.
When the current law expires in 2017, a legislative battle will likely take place over AT&T and other landline carriers' obligation to maintain old copper-wire networks, the (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports (http://bit.ly/20Vnu8Q ). AT&T Illinois president Paul La Schiazza said in a written statement that state policy "requires our company to spend precious investment dollars maintaining 100 percent of the old rotary-dial network in our territory."
The Citizens Utility Board and AARP Illinois are among groups fighting to keep the dial-up mandate. Julie Vahling, associate state director for AARP Illinois, said the group will "fight for consumers" until cellphones and Internet-based phone service are as reliable as landlines.
"Those individuals that have traditional landlines have them for a reason," said. "They may live in an area that has poor cellphone coverage, or they may have a medical condition, and they want that reliability."
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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com