Average US Consumer spends as much as a car payment on communications services.

Consumers still are willing to pay to reach out and touch someone, even amid the deepest recession in more than 60 years. U.S. consumers are spending an average of $185 per month for phone, Internet and pay TV services today, according to a new report from Yankee Group, “Exploring the U.S. Anywhere Atlas.” Mobile phone bills consume the lion’s share of this spending, but pay TV and Internet both play big roles as well.

“Despite the recession, U.S. consumers are voting with their wallets to stay connected to other people and media,” says Carl Howe, director at Yankee Group and author of the report. “But Yankee Group’s analysis of the communications spending patterns of more than 14,000 U.S. consumers shows that geography, competition and other factors dramatically affect what services those consumers buy and how much they pay.”

Key findings from the report include:

* Bundlers buy more. On average, 48 percent of U.S. consumers purchase 2.7 bundled services at a price of $119 per month. But in states with more bundlers?like Nebraska (57 percent) and Connecticut (62 percent)?consumers buy more services (over three) and pay more per month ($125 and $128, respectively).

* High pay TV penetration boosts spending. U.S. consumers pay an average of $66 per month for pay TV, but where service penetration exceeds 90 percent, consumers pay more?e.g., Vermont ($83), Pennsylvania ($71), West Virginia ($77) and Tennessee ($72).

* Land-line cord-cutting continues. One in four Americans already has no home phone, and another 6 percent will give up their land lines in the next 12 months.

For more information at http://www.yankeegroup.com