FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Folks in this country love cell phones, and many are forsaking traditional landlines completely in favor of their wireless counterparts.

But, according to the results of a survey released last week by the National Center for Health Statistics Division of Health Interview Statistics (NHIS), the trend may be slowing. The federal agency is an arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and has been keeping track of wireless-only households since the first six months of 2003.

The study indicates that more than one out of every eight American homes (13.6 percent) had only wireless telephones during the first half of 2007. The 1 percentage point rise over the previous survey is slightly less than the growth spurt shown during the poll taken during the second half of 2006.

Dr. Stephen J. Blumberg, CDC senior scientist and co-author of the report, said Monday afternoon that changes made in survey questions might account for the drop in growth of wireless-only households.

If so, he expects to see the proof emerge in the results of the survey taken during the last half of this year. Those numbers will be announced in May.

“The rate of growth had remained stable,” Blumberg said. “There are places in Europe where the wireless-only population is 50 percent of the general population. There’s no reason to think we’re not heading in the same direction.”

Why are so many people cutting the cord? Blumberg said, “We don’t know based on the results of this survey, but based on other findings, the financial reason is a driver. For people with lower incomes and those who move frequently, there is less reason to maintain a landline.”

Installation fees of wired phones, combined with the added expense of maintaining a home phone in addition to a cell, contributes to the shift toward wireless only, according to Blumberg. He noted prepaid cell plans make it easier these days for those with tight budgets.

“Prepaid phones give people a better way to stay on their budget,” Blumberg said. “When the minutes run out, they know they need to wait until the next month to buy more.”

The data, collected from a sample of nearly 16,000 adults, shows that around one in five poor people have only cell phones, nearly double that of those who are better off financially.

Around 59 percent of households have landlines as well as cell phones, and 24 percent have only landlines.

Ironically, the survey was conducted door-to-door, but that shouldn’t surprise modern pollsters. Blumberg said the emergence of technology and portability has made it more difficult for polling organizations to collect an accurate sample by telephone because it becomes nearly impossible to ensure they are random.

The shift toward the exclusive use of cellular phones is of special concern to emergency management officials and first responders. Some worry the decline of landlines will make it more difficult to respond to those in need.

“There has always been concern, particularly for those with children, because landlines offer a measure of safety,” Blumberg said. “The ever improving capability of 911 systems has made those concerns obsolete.”

Chris Heger, Baldwin County 911 director, said although our emergency call center is indeed equipped with the latest technology, there are still inherent problems with cell phones, and not all are related directly to response time.

“Financially, we lose money when people disconnect their wire-line telephones because the surcharge provides funding,” she said. “And the more wireless phones there are, the greater the need (for money) to upgrade our technology.”

She pointed out that although the signal from most cell phone providers enables the 911 call center to locate a highway accident victim fairly quickly, the same isn’t true for those who need emergency assistance at their residence.

“A cell phone in someone’s home is difficult to pinpoint because it doesn’t give you an exact address (as does a wired phone),” she said. “It gives coordinates on a map, a radius of where it might be. When this (wireless) technology was being developed, it wasn’t meant to pinpoint a house but rather someone trapped in a snowdrift or down a ravine. If they can’t tell us where they are (in a home), it’s going to take longer to locate them. If we send a policeman to check on every wireless hang-up, there would be none left on the street.”

Heger recommends maintaining a landline. She said, “I might have 14 cordless phones, but I’m going to have at least one wired phone.”

Voice-over IP technology, which involves making and receiving calls via an Internet connection, also raises concerns. Heger said, “The calls go to a national call center. We get the call second hand. That’s disturbing to me. People need to be aware of their circumstances.”

She said even if you still have a landline, it’s important that first responders have an accurate street address for a faster response.

Heger said residents can check to see if their actual street address and wired telephone numbers match correctly by calling the 911 center at (251) 947-3911 and asking if the call load at the time is light enough to make a test call.