University of Memphis senior Dequilah Brandon works fulltime andattends school fulltime -- she is definitely not at homefulltime.
But she gets the chance to carry her home phone with hereverywhere she goes.
Like other college students across the country, including at TheU of M, Brandon has a cell phone that doubles as a home phone.
Brandon said she likes the convenience of her cell phone.
"I love my Cricket cell phone because of the advantages," shesaid. "I can talk anytime for free. I get 500 free long distanceminutes, and then I only pay $45 a month compared to my old phonebills (that included a separate home phone), which were $65."
Anna Walkner, another U of M student, has also found the appealof the cell phone in lieu of a separate home phone.
"I have a roommate, and since both of us have cell phones, thereis no use of having a house phone," the education major said."Plus, it is way cheaper."
The Federal Communications Commission estimates that nationwide,61 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds have cell phones.
Not only have U of M students caught on to the cell phone trend,students from other universities, like the University ofCalifornia, Santa Barbara opt for long distance plans on their cellphones over plans provided by their universities.
The University of California lost $500,000 in the last two yearsbecause of students dropping their dorm phone and relying solely ontheir cell, and tuition was raised because of the loss, accordingto the UC Web site.
At The U of M, the cost of long distance through TheUniversity's phone plan is 10 cents a minute. To get long distanceon a campus phone, students pay $50 a semester and get a callingcard from Telecommunications with a code uniquely to that studentand usable on any campus phone.
Texas-based AT&T sales representative Mike Johnson saidcollege students across the world are buying into thecell-phone-for-home-phone trend.
"We have several college students that purchase cell phones fromour company for the long distance service and for the free nightsand weekends," Johnson said.
But even with the popularity of cell phones, the majority ofpeople aren't dropping their home phones just yet, according tostatistics from Cellular Telecommunications & InternetAssociation, a Washington-based industry group, who says home phonesubscriptions have dropped by only 3 percent since 2000.
Obviously, not everyone is attracted to the idea of only havinga cell phone.
Political Science major Toni Reeves said home phones and cellphones are on different levels.
"I use my cell phone as a home phone now and will probably useit later when I get my own home," Reeves said. "There's nothingwrong with a home phone, but cell phones are trendy and most of allhandy."
