US homes served by traditional local phone lines are dwindling. Qwest, the smallest of the Bells, lost about 88,000 lines just in the last three months of 2004. By the year-end 2004, BellSouth had 21.4 mln access lines in service, down 4.1% for the year. Top-tier cable operators each add between 6,000 and 11,000 new phone subscribers per week; telephone revenue per operator is set to pass $1 bln this year; and subscriber rolls bulge at a rate of 1,000% a year.