End of the Line for Landlines?

[Capt Worley PE]

First it was street-corner phone booths and home delivery of telephone books. Now, land lines are on their way to becoming part of American telecommunications history.

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As consumers continue to move to wireless, states are passing or considering laws to end the requirement that phone companies provide everyone land-line service.

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Indiana and Wisconsin are the two most recent states to end the requirement, and many others — including Alabama, Kentucky and Ohio — are considering it.

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More: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-04-16/landline-service-becoming-obsolete/54321184/1

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

I haven't had a landline since 2001-ish. Why have a landline when I have my cellphone in my pocket 24/7?

 

[engineergurl]

security systems... we have a phone line, just no phone hooked up to it...

 

[roadwreck]

security systems... we have a phone line, just no phone hooked up to it...

You don't need a land line for those anymore either. You can run them through VIOP or wirelessly via cell phone.

 

[envirotex]

We were called on ours for reverse 911 when we had the fires last year...we were already gone by the time they made the call. It doesn't work when the power is out though if you only have cordless phones that tie into a base that's plugged into the wall. We keep an old-fashioned phone for that reason (it's not plugged in), but when we actually called 911 for the fires, I used my cell...so, I don't know.

You can also add your cell phone number to a specific address for emergency notifications as well.

 

[csb]

We have a phone plugged into the wall for emergencies. I'm still nervous to get rid of that landline.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

My parents only keep their landline because they've had the same phone number for decades and just don't want to deal with telling everyone their new cell numbers. They also live up in the mountains where cell reception can be sketchy.

 

[snickerd3]

we will never get rid of our land land as long as they are available. Cell phone signal is hit or miss where the house is located. calling 911 from cell phones in our area will only get responders to the general area, not the exact address. we still have a corded phone in the house for when the power goes out. And although it hasn't happened since we bought the house, week long outages during the fall/winter ice storms were not uncommon the neighbors tell us.

 

[snickerd3]

we still get telephone books delivered to the house too. 2 different brands actually, a yellow pages and the local book.

 

[roadwreck]

My VOIP has gives 911 responders my exact address and I feel it's more secure (for an alarm system) then a land line would be for my house. My phone and cable lines come into my house near the backdoor. If I had my alarm connected to a land line and someone wanted to disable the communication with the call center all they would have to do is walk around back and take a pair of scissors to the phone line.

My VOIP runs through my internet which happens to be 4G wireless, so there are no wires to or from the house. All the phone and internet devices are on a battery backup (I'm a nerd) so even if the power goes out the phones and the internet still work. The alarm has it's own battery backup as well. So the only way to stop a call from going in or out is for a piece of equipment to malfunction (which hasn't happened in the three years I've had it) or for the entire cell phone network in my area to crash (seems highly unlikely). I'm sure that's not the case for everyone, but I've been pretty happy with my results. Oh, and I only pay $3.47 a month for VOIP service, Ooma.

I'm a firm believer that land lines are unnecessary these days.

 

[cdcengineer]

I use VOIP for company phone line. Aces

But my wife still keeps the LL for the house

 

[pbrme]

No LL here since 2003. Waste of money.

 

[goodal]

the only viable option i have for interwebs is dsl. No Cable here. Satelite too expensive. Hughes net sucks. Aircard not as fast. So I'm stuck paying for a phone line that I only use for the internet.

 

[roadwreck]

the only viable option i have for interwebs is dsl. No Cable here. Satelite too expensive. Hughes net sucks. Aircard not as fast. So I'm stuck paying for a phone line that I only use for the internet.

They've started doing DSL without requiring the land line where I live. I'm sure it was due to market pressure, since we do have a lot of other options for internet, but it is possible to have DSL and not be required to have a land line.

 

[blybrook PE]

I got rid of my landline when I bought my house and moved from my apartment. The phone company wanted to charge me to come test the line after telling me it was fully functional and ready to turn on. I said thanks, but no thanks.

Cell coverage there is very spotty, so I put in a cell repeater; has worked great for the past 3+ years.

 

[MA_PE]

We've always had a land line. phone cable and internet access is bundled. Individually we'd pay just as much

 

[mudpuppy]

^Is that through a cable company? Most of those phone/cable/internet bundles around here actually use VOIP, in which case you do NOT have a land line.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I've had Vonage since 2005. I use that for most of my calls, since I don't want to need an exorbitant cell phone plan. We originally got it to avoid long distance rates. The ex wife and I both were from out of state, so the monthly flat rate was a good thing. Plus you can keep your number of you move, so the person you forget to tell your new number to is still able to call you.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I still remember my mom running through the house to catch the one phone in the house when it rang.

We still have the LL, but still use dialup, too. i suspect at some point in the near future we're goign to have to look at complete overhaul on the commo gear.

Mom and dad have satellitle TV and internet, cells, and LL. I asked about the LL and why they keep it, and the answer was, 'four generations of your family back to 1939 have had this phone number and we aren't letting it go. There are lots of old friends who have this as the only contact number." Guess they have a point. They've had people they haven't heard from since the fifties and sixties call them.

 

[DVINNY]

I have a home phone # but it is the VOIP offered in the bundled package through my cable company, I get the innerwebs via cable as well.