Telecommunication Concerns of New Jersey Registered Voters Age 50+

As New Jersey considers changes to home phone service, voters age 50+ strongly believe they should have the choice to keep their landlines until a comparable technology is reliable and affordable.  Overwhelmingly, voters 50+ believe the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) should be required to review any new technology for home phone service to ensure it offers comparable service for medical monitoring, home security and access to service in emergencies.   To protect their access to affordable, reliable phone service, a majority of 50+ voters want the state legislature to pass legislation that would require a one-year moratorium on the ability of phone companies to require customers to switch to an alternative technology for home phone service.

Key findings include:

• Eighty percent support the state making sure that carriers of last resort continue to provide affordable, reliable phone service.
• About eight in ten think it is important for companies to continue to provide traditional landline service until comparable alternatives are available.
• Four in five think it is important for the Board of Public Utilities to investigate customer complaints about issues with home telephone service.
• Nearly ninety percent agree that the Board of Public Utilities should review new technologies to ensure they are comparable in price and services. It is extremely or very important that comparable services include such things as reliable connections to 911, clear connection for phone calls and telephone service during power outages.

The 2014 AARP New Jersey Telecommunications Survey was conducted as a telephone survey among registered voters age 50 and older in the state of New Jersey The survey examined opinions and experiences related to landline telephone service. The survey was 15 minutes in length. A total of 1,401 interviews were conducted by Precision Opinion from August 29th to September 11th, 2014. The sample was weighted by age and gender to reflect the population of registered voters in New Jersey age 50+. For more information, contact Cassandra Burton at ccantave@aarp.org.