Cell phones replace land line

Developer Gordon Gregory probably won't extend telephone lines to the property he is developing near Topaz Ranch Estates.

The requirement, which could have easily exceeded $250,000 according to Verizon officials, was waived recently by planning commissioners.

Public health and safety were the key reasons for a previous denial, but the rapid pace of cell phone and satellite technology are making phone lines obsolete, Gregory said.

"Other technologies can replace the need for a land line," Gregory said.

"No project can cover the cost of phone service, and neither the county nor the telephone company has a mechanism in place for sharing the cost of extending phone service among potential users.

"In the past, there was a strong argument for land line phone service, but not today," he said. "In the future, the technology will be replacing the need for phone lines."

In the United States, about 9 percent of telephone customers have relinquished their land lines in favor of cell phones and another 20 percent are likely to do so in the future.

An estimated 50 percent of all 911 calls are generated by cell phones and satellite phone service can be obtained for as little as $25 month, Gregory said.

In fewer than 20 years, mobile phones have gone from being rare and expensive pieces of equipment used primarily by the business elite, to a pervasive low-cost personal item, according to online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Roughly 219.4 million cellphones were being used in the United States in 2005, when the population hovered around 300 million and the United Kingdom now has more mobile phones than people, according to information from the Central Intelligence Agency's Fact Book.

Luxembourg has the highest mobile phone penetration rate in the world, at 164 percent in December 2005 and in Hong Kong, the penetration rate reached 117 percent of the population in September 2004.

In developing countries where there is little existing fixed-line infrastructure, the mobile phone has become widespread.

Africa has the largest growth rate of cellular subscribers in the world and they're expanding nearly twice as fast as Asian markets, according to Wikipedia.

"The total number of mobile phone subscribers in the world was estimated at 2.14 billion in 2005.

"Around 80 percent of the world's population have mobile phone coverage as of 2006.

"This figure is expected to increase to 90 percent by the year 2010," according to Wikipedia.

-- Susie Vasquez can be reached at svasquez@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 211.