Nielsen Claritas tracked consumer behavior across a wide range of telecommunication products and services to identify this year’s key trends.
Cord Cutting Craze
Wireless/cellular only homes, which grew by 20% in 2008, now account for 18% of all U.S. households.  One-third of the wireless-only households have never had a landline, while the remaining two-thirds are cord cutters. Not surprisingly, cord-cutter households tend to be younger and are more likely to rent/lease their home.  Expect the wireless-only trend to grow, as homes continue to drop their landlines and young adults start new households …

One in five U.S. households could be without a landline phone by the end of 2008, according to a white paper released Wednesday by Nielsen Mobile.
Seventeen percent of U.S. households — 20 million homes — have already ditched their home landlines, relying instead on mobile phones, Nielsen reported.
These “wireless substitutors” tend to live in smaller households with just one or two residents and have lower income-levels — 59% have household incomes of $40,000 or less.  A significant number moved (31%) or changed jobs (22%) just before discontinuing their landline service.

Mobile data cards are no longer just for business travelers, a report released Tuesday by Nielsen Mobile reveals.
Of the 13 million mobile data card users in the U.S. as of Q2 2008, 43% most often use their data card at home, while 15% typically use the card at work, and just 9% use their card while commuting. 
Most of the 1,300 mobile card users Nielsen surveyed (99%) have kept their home Internet service providers, but 59% are considering swapping their cable, DSL, and other wired Interent service for exclusive data card …