Cellphone saturation almost achieved; 91 percent in U.S. own one

Cellphones are nearing ubiquitous status and are now being used by 91 percent of U.S. adults, the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project says.

However, while the survey demonstrated the cellphone is the most quickly adopted consumer technology in the history of the world, there are some demographic groups whose acceptance of the cellphone lags behind others, the research center said Thursday.

Those groups are people ages 65 and older; those who did not attend college; those living in households earning less than $30,000; and those in rural areas, the Pew survey found.

The rise of the smartphone is a big part of the cell adoption story, Pew said, and they survey found 56 percent of Americans have opted for a smartphone over a standard cellphone.

An increasing number of Americans are "cutting the cord" and giving up their traditional landlines, the survey found; as of June 2012, 35.8 percent of American household had become cell-only.

The survey of 2,252 adults was conducted by the Pew center conducted between April 17 and May 19.