Landline Telephony Slowly Disappearing Globally: TeleGeography

Landline telephony "is not going away anytime soon," but the trend toward VoIP "is inexorable," TeleGeography analyst Pete Bell wrote Tuesday. Public switched telephone networks peaked in 2006, with 1.22 billion lines in service globally, and has averaged declines of 6% annually since then, Bell said. Last year saw the PSTN subscription total dropping 16%, ending the year at 407 million, he said. By 2031, PSTN should shrink to fewer than 250 million lines in service globally, according to Bell. Mobile substitution and VoIP subscriptions have driven the waning of PSTN voice telephony, he added. Last year saw IP-based voice subscriptions surpass those connected by PSTN for the first time, Bell said, adding that VoIP lines will outnumber PSTN by almost 300 million by the end of 2031.