For some reason there are still people in the UK who insist on having a landline, and it is costing them £480 million a year according to one of those consumer studies.

According to comparethemarket.com’s research, 24% of households have an unused landline, while only 35% of consumer aged younger than 34 actually use one. With the almost ubiquitous penetration of smartphones you really have to wonder what the point is anymore. Just give grandma a feature phone and do away with the pointless bit of kit lurking in the hallway.

“The death of the landline is ‘hopefully’ upon us. Smart phones are slowly but surely making landlines obsolete, and generations Y and Z will likely ensure its final demise,” said Peter Earl, Head of Utilities at comparethemarket.com. “As mobile coverage improves across the country, the number of people who will used a fixed line will inevitably decrease.

“The market is to blame partly for this as a package that includes phone can be cheaper than buying broadband on its own. However, it seems that a huge number of people are currently wasting money with landlines that they never use or have connected in their home. The biggest cost of a having a landline is the line-rental charges – which are often required to have broadband – but the costs of operating that landline are sometimes charged on top.”

There might be a few who are clinging to the idea of a home phone number, though considering youngsters are becoming less likely to communicate verbally nowadays, the writing might be on the wall for the humble landline. In fairness, it is probably the manufacturers fault; you can’t even play Snake on it.