TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s residential and business telecommunication wirelines experienced a significant decrease last year, according to the Florida Public Service Commission’s (PSC) annual “Report on the Status of Competition in the Telecommunications Industry.”

The 2022 report shows consumers continue to move from landline telephone service to wireless and cable/Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. The data indicates that residential migration to wireless technologies continues, and business customers are still migrating to VoIP services in large numbers. Carriers reported approximately 1.2 million total landlines in Florida for 2021, about 16.9 percent fewer than in 2020.

“Floridians’ continued migration to wireless and alternative platforms is no surprise. The telecommunications industry offers consumers ‘new and improved’ technology options on a regular basis,” said PSC Chairman Andrew Giles Fay. “This evolution of services continues to be beneficial for customers looking for specialized plans.”  

For the eleventh year in a row, the number of business landlines exceeded residential landlines, although both experienced significant drops in 2021. Residential landlines declined 19.1 percent, while business landlines declined 15.4 percent. CenturyLink experienced a 19 percent decline in residential lines during 2020, and AT&T declined 19.2 percent. Frontier again experienced the biggest residential loss with a 22.9 percent decline in residential access lines during the same period.

As in past years, wireless, VoIP, and broadband drove the telecommunications markets in 2021. According to the most recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) data, there are an estimated 22 million wireless subscriptions in Florida and greater than 4.7 million VoIP connections.

Delivered to the Florida Legislature by August 1 each year, the PSC report compiled data from Florida telecommunications companies for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021.  Access the entire report here.

For additional information, visit www.floridapsc.com.

Follow the PSC on Twitter, @floridapsc.

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