At&t to FCC: Landline phone service must die
 

http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/...on-is-when.ars


Very interesting.

Huh, maybe that's why Qwest is now charging me a $1 to pay my phone bill. Although I kinda find it hard to believe landlines aren't profitable when they're gouging me for $50 every month for mine.

$50/month?! That's insane. My AT&T land line is $16.55 plus "taxes and fees" that take it to $26.50.

If they do away with land lines it's going to take away alot of revenue to everyone who has piled on the phone company's bill. I'm sure they'll figure out how to pile on cell phones to make up the difference.

They are already dead to me.

Damn,I haven't had a "land line" in 10 + years.

only problem with killing landlines is if you lose power


at&t must think they can screw us for more money with cell/voip service

No caller ID?

Nope, just the basic service.

I think VOIP is pretty cheap for companies to run.

We still have a landline in my house, but i need one for a few things family and medical related.

Dont they just want to redo things so everyone can get super speedy internet access. lol

Same, i just have the phone that i rarely answer, i just listen to the answering machine. IF its important they will leave a message. If its family/friends, they will call me on my cell phone.

How does a landline help you if you lose power?

How would you solve the house alarm issue? Most alarm companies don't support voice over IP when your system calls the monitoring station.

I can still make a call if I lose power, but can't with voice over IP.

The landline continues to function. Most VOIP solutions require a power source within the house.

OK but I can use my cell phone. The only thing I lost was the ability to send a fax.

I don't disagree, I wish I could switch over to IP but can't yet because of the alarm issue. I have three cell phones in the house and rarely use the house phone.

That's with some add ons like voice mail and so forth, taxes and fees and a few long distance calls every month.

I would have kept my land line until all of the extra fee's, tax, etc. ended up being more than the cost of the line. I also had an issue of a douche bag in the same town with a similar name that didn't like paying his bills. I was growing tired of having to deal with collectors for debt's that weren't mine. I didn't feel it was right that I had to pay to get my number out of the phone book which the debt collectors used trying to track down douche bag. Been peaceful ever since I dropped the land line.

most telephones draw power from the phone line, not through a power outlet. i figured you would know this since you're so old, your first telephone number was 5...

I haven't had a land line in 10+ years

I hate having a land line, but have to for the security system to be monitored by ADT. We also need the land line for our fax machine, as my wife and I both run businesses.

They had better not kill landlines. I am used to having a phone on each level of the house. You can't do that with cell phones without getting raped.

That raises another good point as to why they can't kill landlines.

Well beings you're the only person in a 50 mile radius who still has one, 50 bucks can't maintain the entire infrastructure.

The great thing about cell phones is you can carry it wherever you go. Yes, even into the bathroom.

I work for them and have been saying the samething for years...

So they want to get rid of it when there are still 100 million households using it?

yes they do.

You can still have that with VoIP.

The fax will officially become outdated. Sorry Fax.

I have a land line - and I like having a land line for the power reason already mentioned 1 -


and 2 - Because E911 is not yet great.

when you dial 911 from the land line it is much quicker for them to locate you than from your cell phone. Not to mention my cell phone runs on VOIP with my Sprint Air rave - so they really would have no idea where I was.

BUT! - the one time I have had to call 911 in the three years I have lived in the house.. I used my cell phone... :doh!:

They will still have landlines for a long time, but they don't want to be regulated near as much since it's not as much of a necessity as it used to be. They still have to have lines run to the house to provide uverse and there will always be a lot of people that can't afford cell phones. Businesses will normally have landlines too, because it is way too expensive for them to be using cell phones all the time.

We never answer our landline. It rings, the answering machine picks it up, and there's almost never anyone there (i.e. it's a telemarketer who hangs up). I haven't answered the phone in years. If they do away with landlines, I wouldn't miss them.

Honestly, there are a lot of things going the way of the dodo. The Hollywood Video franchise near us used to be a booming business. We'd go there frequently, from 2002-2007. But for the past two years we've barely gone there, and they closed without us even knowing about it. The Blockbuster near us also closed. Why? Because most people can now watch movies on their computer, or PS3, or via Netflix, or just by pressing a few buttons on their cable remote. VCRs, tube TVs, pagers... to everything there is a season, and the landline's is coming to an end.

VOIP works just like land line system and they now have home phone systems that will bluetooth connect with a cell phone and act like a land line system.

Last I heard VOIP still had issues with cross talk. Plus, there is still the power issue.

On your second note regarding bluetooth connect. How exactly does that work?

what most people dont realize is the POTS lines are more dependable than any other type of telephony out right now. The cell phone companies cant handle everyone having a cell phone (not enough capacity). Did you have problems texting or making a call on new years? And that was calls being made hours apart from the east coast to the west coast. If you do get voip you will need a cell as a backup because if youe internet goes down or you lose electricity I hope you do not have an emergency and need to make a call. Phone companies benefit (not us) if they get rid of pots srevices.

This would save the company Billions, drive up profitability, and probably result in a price war in DSL & Mobility. I'm all for it.

I've had Vonage for 4 years, no real issues except lightning zapping the phone modem.

A bluetooth home phone system simply connects to a cell phone like a bluetooth headset does. Then the paired cell phone becomes the main line that in turn feeds all the wireless phone receivers placed through out the house. Its basically like multiplying your cell phone but acts like and it gives you many functions of a land line phone.

Link

Having been in the trade in my engineering career, I am amazed of how far technology has advanced since I began in 1962. I was fortunate to be on the design end of many innovations that were thought impossible in the last four decades.

In the late '70s cell phones were 3k and huge. It was all analog and had severe performance limitations. Market pull was more of a factor than technology push and that is where the money comes in. Now, all cell phones are digital and that's where carriers a reaping huge profits from the bells and whistles everyone craves.

I ditched my copper 4 years ago. Everything, phone, INet and TV comes down my cable. My home is completely wireless without reliance of wire anywhere. Should power go, my cable modem has battery backup. Even in the absence of dial tone, I still can dial 911, far better than relying on VoIP.

I am a tech junky and in retirement have my lab and workshop where I do a lot of experimentation. My main project is developing efficient solar power to run my whole estate. In a few years, my reliance on infrastructure will be negligible and with a healthy garden, I won't have to worry who is president (or dictator).

Probably talking about a bluetooth gateway device

DT

So what happens if everybody goes wireless and one of those super solar flares hits? Wouldn't we be completely ****ed?

We had VOIP phones at work in addition to our landline. One too many power outages, I guess. After the last one, you could not understand anyone calling in. We haven't used them since.

Yes, because I'm sure they'll pass the savings right on to us. :rolleyes:



You will once they show up to take your shit.


If that happens, we're ****ed anyway.

Thanks for the advice, but. . .

We engineers we have no fears
We're concerned with trifles
We hang our balls
Upon the walls
And shoot at them with rifles

Some of Gods things you just can't mess with. . .