By Linda Zimermman

According to a recent AP article, this year will mark the first calendar year U.S. households will spend more dollars on cell phones than land lines according to industry and government officials.  Telecom industry analysts and officials are certain 2007 cell phone dollars will beat land line dollars. The 2006 average cell phone bill was $524 compared to $542 on land lines and pay phones according to government data.

Analysts say that when corporate cell phone use is included, cell phone spending actually exceeded land line spending several years ago.  Over ninety percent of U.S. households have traditional lines, according to Eric Rabe, senior vice president for media relations at Verizon Communications, Inc., where wireless revenue has been growing 15-20% a year. Rabe refers to the traditional land lines as a mature business that has had flat growth and is likely to shrink.

In 2001 U. S. households spent three times as much on residential phone services as they did on cell phones.   Due to the expansion of wireless networks making cell phones more convenient with so many additional options, consumers have found it easy to spend more money on their cell phones.