Arkansas leads the country in the percentage of residents who’ve abandoned landline telephones to go strictly wireless. A new study from the National Centers for Disease Control says 35.2 percent of Arkansans live in cell-phone-only households, just ahead of Mississippi, at 35.1, for No. 1. The growth rate of wireless-only homes in Arkansas also outstripped the country — a jump from 20 percent in 2007 to 35 percent in 2010. Poverty is a positive marker for cell phone exclusivity. Younger people and people who move frequently are also more likely to use cell phones. Cell phone use was also heavy in states that had high numbers of people with no telephone service. Arkansas ranked fourth among the states with the highest percentage of people with NO home phone.

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