Public Opinion About the Internet and Information Technologies - Cellular Phones

As of late 2003 cell-phone ownership among Americans was still rising at a fairly brisk rate. A mid-November 2003 Gallup poll found that some 67% of Americans owned a cell phone, according to "Cell Phone Users Have Little Interest in Number Portability" by Joseph Carroll (Gallup Organization, December 8, 2003). A similar Gallup poll in March 2000 found that only 50% of Americans had a cell phone. The rise in users occurred at a fairly steady rate over those three years. In the summer of 2001, 55% of Americans owned cell phones, and in early 2002 cell-phone ownership was at 60%. (See Figure 10.1.) When it came to choosing a cell-phone carrier, the November 2003 Gallup poll revealed that the calling plan was the most important feature to Americans. In fact, 44% of cell-phone users selected their carrier because of the calling plan. The next most important factor was network coverage, with 31% of people choosing this factor. Only 12% of cell-phone users thought customer service was important, and 5% felt strongly about the features on the cell phone.

Not all demographic groups had equal access to cell phones. Eight out of ten (83%) Americans who earned $50,000 annually or more owned a mobile phone, as opposed to 35% of people who earned less than $20,000. The age group in which cell-phone ownership was most prevalent was the thirty- to forty-nine-year-old group. Seventy-four percent in this age range owned a cell phone. Roughly the same percentage of those aged eighteen to twenty-nine (69%) and those aged fifty to sixty-four (69%) owned cell phones. Only four out of ten (43%) of those sixty-five or older had their own mobile phone.

As the number of cell phones has grown, so too has the practice of talking on a cell phone while driving. Generally, people consider this behavior to be unsafe. Nearly two-thirds (84%) of people responding to a Gallup poll conducted in early November 2003 disagreed with the statement, "using a cellular phone while driving is safe." Only 78% of cell-phone users believed that driving while speaking on a cell phone was unsafe, whereas a full 95% on nonusers felt this way. Despite this sentiment, 38% cell-phone users openly admitted to using their cell phones frequently while driving. Many of these people did not use a hands-free device as only 35% of all cell-phone users reported using a hands-free cell phone.

In mid-2001 New York became the first state to pass a law banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. Since then many other states have followed suit. According to "Public Favors Ban on Use of Cellular Phones While Driving" by Darren Carlson (Gallup Organization, July 12, 2001), 70% of Americans supported the idea that their state should ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. Sixty-two percent of respondents believed that a full ban should be put into place. Once again, many of those who admitted driving while on the phone seemed to think it was unsafe. Roughly half (49%) of these cell-phone drivers reported that they were in favor of such a ban. Two-thirds (67%) of the general public and half (52%) of all cell-phone users did not feel that the ban would be an inconvenience to them.