Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

Dallas Morning News

As land-line use falls, phone companies aren't ready to pull the plug

Providing plain old voice telephone service was a profitable and growing business for more than 100 years, but that run could be coming to an end.

Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst in Dallas with tech market research firm Parks Associates, said there's no question that land-line voice is a shrinking business. But it still has value, he said. Scherf noted that, for all his tech savvy, he still hasn't dumped his land-line phone, as making long-distance cellphone-to-cellphone calls is still an exercise in dropped calls and crummy quality.

"I think it would be really tough for them to completely walk away from that business," he said. "If it's just not bleeding them dry to continue to provide that service, then I could see them holding on to it."

From the article, "As land-line use falls, phone companies aren't ready to pull the plug" by Victor Godinez

Previously In The News

Tablets such as iPad cast a shadow of doubt over laptops

In August, Dallas-based research firm Parks Associates surveyed more than 500 Americans who owned an iPad or planned to buy one soon. More than one-third said Apple's tablet had caused them to delay...

Home security is going high-tech to counter housing bust

While almost every other piece of the consumer electronics business has gotten wired and then wireless over the last 10 years, home security systems have remained stubbornly low-tech. "The securit...

Cable disputes could lead TV viewers to other options

Parks Associates' Scherf said that if Apple really wants to revolutionize the video delivery business, it will have to position the new device and service to a mass market, as it did with the iPhone...

Blockbuster adds video games to by-mail subscription program

The number of game console owners who are spending money on a monthly basis to download games jumped to 29 percent this year from 8 percent in 2008, according to consumer research from Dallas-based...