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NOTE: Adults are aged 18 and over; children are under age 18. Data Source: NCHS, National Health Interview Survey. Jan–Jun 2003 Jul–Dec 2007 60 70 Percent 50 40 30 55.2 64.9 Adults with wireless service only Children with wireless service only 20 10 0 Jul–Dec 2004 Jan–Jun 2006 Jan–Jun 2009 Jul–Dec 2010 Jan–Jun 2012 Jul–Dec 2013 Jan–Jun 2015 Jul–Dec 2016 Jan–Jun 2018 FIGURE 1: Summary graph of percentages of adults and children living in households with only wireless telephone service: United States, 2003–2018. THE BASICS OF 911 Over the past decade, the percentage of 911 calls made via wireless devices has increased compared to those made on landline phones. Today, about 80 percent of calls to 911 come from cellphone users, and about 80 percent of all cellphone use takes place inside of buildings. This reliance on smartphones has led to people increasingly cutting the cord in favor of wired communications and relying on their cellphones as their main device for communications. The Centers for Disease Control's preliminary results from its January– June 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) found that the num- ber of American homes with only wireless phones continues to grow (Figure 1). "More than one-half of American homes (54.9 percent) had only wireless telephones during the NEW RULES FOR 911 Recognizing that Americans are communicating today in new ways, the federal government in 2014 adopted rules so people can text 911, along with making voice calls. "Texting during an emergency could be helpful if you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, or if a voice call to 911 might otherwise be dangerous or impossible," the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) noted. The commission still encourages people to call 911 as a first option since the text-to-911 initiative has not been adopted by all 911 call centers, but wireless operators have the structure in place to allow text-to-911 if Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) request it. The FCC is also working on new rules to increase the accuracy of 911 calls inside a building. Earlier this year, the FCC proposed a fourth further notice of proposed rulemaking that would provide even more accuracy to identify a caller's location, including the vertical location for calls made from inside high-rise buildings. first half of 2018—an increase of 2.4 percentage points since the first half of 2017," the CDC report stated. Younger demographics skew even more toward wireless-only house- holds. More than 77 percent of adults aged 25-34 live in wireless- only homes, the survey noted. Adults in the 18-to-24-year-old age group and the 35-to-44-year-old age group also had high percentages of wireless-only households at about 65 percent each. About half of people aged 45-64 live in wireless- only homes, and 29 percent of adults over 65 years old live in wireless- only homes. Renters are also strong wireless- only households, with 77 percent of renters not having landline phones. Overall, only about 5 percent of households said they were landline-only homes, according to the semiannual survey. July/August/September 2019 I 49

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