87% of US landline calls are unwanted

According to the FCC: “Unwanted calls – including illegal and spoofed robocalls – are the FCC’s top consumer complaint and our top consumer protection priority.”

Yet despite this prioritization, the 100 million Americans with landline phones received over 5 billion unwanted calls in September 2022. This represents an increase of more than 2 billion unwanted calls since July 2022.

“We’re seeing a big uptick in the unwanted call volume on landline phones as we head into the election season,” said imp’s™ President George Lightbody. “Close to one-third of all U.S. households rely on their landline phone as an essential tool for communicating. But it is becoming increasingly difficult for landliners to cut through the noise and actually use their phones.”

This data comes from the Landline Landscape: 2022 Q3 Report – the only such analysis focused exclusively on landline phone use in the U.S. These figures calculated are projections of the landline call traffic based on imp’s active users in 40+ states.

Key Findings of the Study Include:
83% of Landline Owners are Actively Bothered by Unwanted Calls: Nearly one third of all households in the US have a landline. Of these households, 8 out of every 10 households report being actively bothered by unwanted landline calls.

87% of Landline Calls are Unwanted: Households with a landline phone receive on average 46 calls per week. Landline users classify 40 of these 46 calls as “unwanted.” Only 6 of the 46 calls are “wanted” calls from friends and family.

Traditional Call Blocking is Only a 5% Solution: Of the 40 unwanted calls received each week, only 2 would be stopped by traditional call blocking devices. All of these 40 unwanted calls are, in essence, telephonic invaders.

CT Bureau