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Gen Y marks the end of the line for home phones

Published: 10:45AM Friday July 13, 2012 Source: ONE News

Generation Y are swiftly ditching the home phone to rely on their mobiles, according to a new survey.

An independent study by Canstar Blue found twice as many young New Zealanders do not have a landline compared to older Kiwis.

Sarah Putt, the editor of magazine ComputerWorld, said they might have it right when it comes to leaving the landline behind.

"It does beg the question - why do we pay $45 a month for a phoneline that very few of us are using these days," she told TV ONE's Breakfast.

"And maybe Generation Y's got it right - maybe we just really need to think about why we're paying that money."

The cost may be the reason 31% of Generation Y answered the survey saying they do not use their landline and use their mobile phones for all calls.

This is compared to 14% of Generation X, and 8% of Baby Boomers saying they have made the switch.

According to Putt, the left overs may still be using landline only because they are already installed at home.

"It's in the home, it's already there, so if you're going flatting or getting a new home, why wouldn't you use it," she said.

The growing area is broadband because of online tools like Skype, according to Putt.

"A lot of people Skype and people like using the video conferencing on Skype. Sometimes it's not a great connection and can be hard to set up, but you know - it's almost free, so it's good."

Vodafone's move to buy TelstraClear could also change how affordable landline calls could be for consumers, according to Putt.

"It will change the price because they both offer landline services bundled up with their broadband packages," she said.

But Putt said the jury is still out on whether prices will get more competitive, because the potential for a duopoly in the market could leave them as they are.

"Now if the Vodafone-TelstraClear deal gets the green light from the Commerce Commission...you're going to see two companies having about 80% of the fixed line calling and broadband market in New Zealand."

Putt said she hopes the Commerce Commission really investigates the deal because New Zealanders rely on communications platforms and together spend around $5 billion a year on their services.

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