Still love your landline? Phone service providers are getting closer to phasing

[jeffandnicole]

Technologies come and go.  There was once a time when 911 didn't exist and one had to use the local phone book to locate the emergency numbers, which were separate for Fire, Police & Ambulance.

So, yes, since landlines still exist, they're an option.  But we can't hold onto old technologies forever.

The wheel says otherwise.

Still carving your own wooden wheels?  The wheel, just like a phone, remains.  Today's wheels ain't like yesteryear's wheels though.

Why didn't they bring up: "If you can't use your cell phone, use a Payphone".  Or, "Locate an emergency callbox on the street corner".  Or, "Ask a neighbor"?

What is this "pay phone" that you are talking about? I already pay to use my phone. Is this something that you would put quarters into? Can't they use debit or credit cards? It is, after all, the 21st century.

Payphones do exist, but the phone companies have gotten out of the pay phone business leaving them to third party providers. New York City used to have 30,000 payphones, but the last one was removed from service in 2022. I honestly didn't even see a payphone at DFW International or Fourt Lauderdale, but I wasn't looking for one either.

I know of a few in various parking lots in my area.  I haven't picked them up to see if they actually work though.

Why didn't they bring up: "If you can't use your cell phone, use a Payphone".  Or, "Locate an emergency callbox on the street corner".  Or, "Ask a neighbor"?

Are you implying that asking a neighbor is outdated technology?  That's exactly what we've told our boys to do in case of an emergency if using a cell phone isn't an option.

In many cases, it's the unfortunate truth.  Many people are so secluded from the outside world they don't know their neighbors, or have minor issues that they now don't talk to each other.  Then the question also is - why didn't the social media post say - hey, your neighbor may have a different carrier that's unaffected, so try asking them if you don't have access to a landline.

[Scott5114]

I didn't know the names of any of my neighbors in Oklahoma. Couldn't tell you one thing about any of them, other than the lady across the street having a little dog that she took out to use the bathroom in the front yard late at night.

The only reason I know that the guy that lives above me in Nevada is named Josh is because we ran into each other coming and going and he went out of his way to introduce himself.

[bwana39]

There is a yeah but there is more to this story. You will still be able to have a home phone. It would just need to be connected via the internet. Except when the power is off, you could never even notice the difference.

POTS (single line copper wires) may be going by the wayside, but it will not be that complicated. Last year, the folks I worked with went to a more modern (and far less expensive) VOIP system.  The buyer talked about it like it was a dramatic change. We had been on VOIP over a T1 connection since 2001. It just connected through a box in the back room with individual phone wires going to the individual phones as opposed to having a cat5 /6 cable hooked to each phone.

Grandma can keep her house phone as she is familiar with it even after the transition.  It WILL require a more resilient and widespread network of DSL, fiber, and wireless that can provide a reliable high speed internet to the places where it is lacking today.

[epzik8]

There is a yeah but there is more to this story. You will still be able to have a home phone. It would just need to be connected via the internet. Except when the power is off, you could never even notice the difference.

The internet's takeover of the world is nearing completion...

[Ted$8roadFan]

Boston Globe had an article today about  folks who are holding on to their landlines. Many skew older, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) the Northeast tends to have a higher proportion of landline customers. Also unsurprisingly, a few are holding on to landlines to memorialize past generations of relatives (i.e. keeping their parents or grandparents numbers). Kind of like low-number license plates.

[Scott5114]

Boston Glove

[kalvado]

Boston Glove had an article today about  folks who are holding on to their landlines. Many skew older, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) the Northeast tends to have a higher proportion of landline customers. Also unsurprisingly, a few are holding on to landlines to memorialize past generations of relatives (i.e. keeping their parents or grandparents numbers). Kind of like low-number license plates.

I thought you can transfer any number to a cell if you choose so?

[kkt]

I want mobile-only with my phone service back in December, 2003, and when we moved five years ago, my mother imovied to mobile only. Part of the reason why the telcos want to move away from copper lines is because of the costs associated with such a aging infrastruction and the regulations/tariffs associated with traditional phone lines verses providing phone service via a VoIP adapter.

And not at all because telcos can charge more for service every month, and sell you a new phone every few years?

[kalvado]

I want mobile-only with my phone service back in December, 2003, and when we moved five years ago, my mother imovied to mobile only. Part of the reason why the telcos want to move away from copper lines is because of the costs associated with such a aging infrastruction and the regulations/tariffs associated with traditional phone lines verses providing phone service via a VoIP adapter.

And not at all because telcos can charge more for service every month, and sell you a new phone every few years?

Google specifically said they want to move to cloud services to reduce handset turnover.
But I agree, that's why publishers want paper newspapers

[kphoger]

I want mobile-only with my phone service back in December, 2003, and when we moved five years ago, my mother imovied to mobile only. Part of the reason why the telcos want to move away from copper lines is because of the costs associated with such a aging infrastruction and the regulations/tariffs associated with traditional phone lines verses providing phone service via a VoIP adapter.

And not at all because telcos can charge more for service every month, and sell you a new phone every few years?

As someone who works in the telecom industry, let me say...  you may be grossly underestimating the cost of maintaining the infrastructure related to copper wire last-mile telephony—especially when video and internet are already steadily switching to from HFC to PON.

The big MSO here in Wichita had been working toward eliminating all non-digital phone (outdoor or indoor NIU) equipment at least since I moved here, and I've lived here for 16 years now.  They finally upgraded everyone a couple of years ago.  The primary motivation for the change was the fact that such equipment was antique, was expensive to replace, and had a zillion little parts inside that could go wrong.  And, with the Go All Digital switch several years ago, every household was already going to be getting digital signal anyway for their video and internet.  The only possible reason to not use HFC into the home would be a customer's having landline phone but no video or internet service:  an increasingly rare type of customer, and an end result of poorer telephone sound quality.  The number of customers not needing to use coax to carry digital signal for something other than phone is so low as to be trivial, so it makes total sense to use that same POE for phone service as well by means of an eMTA gateway.  With the further march toward fiber, it's only more so.

[ZLoth]

As someone who works in the telecom industry, let me say...  you may be grossly underestimating the cost of maintaining the infrastructure related to copper wire last-mile telephony—especially when video and internet are already steadily switching to from HFC to PON.

The big MSO here in Wichita had been working toward eliminating all non-digital phone (outdoor or indoor NIU) equipment at least since I moved here, and I've lived here for 16 years now.  They finally upgraded everyone a couple of years ago.  The primary motivation for the change was the fact that such equipment was antique, was expensive to replace, and had a zillion little parts inside that could go wrong.  And, with the Go All Digital switch several years ago, every household was already going to be getting digital signal anyway for their video and internet.  The only possible reason to not use HFC into the home would be a customer's having landline phone but no video or internet service:  an increasingly rare type of customer, and an end result of poorer telephone sound quality.  The number of customers not needing to use coax to carry digital signal for something other than phone is so low as to be trivial, so it makes total sense to use that same POE for phone service as well by means of an eMTA gateway.  With the further march toward fiber, it's only more so.

Can you repost your reply in English rather than Acronym?

[kphoger]

As someone who works in the telecom industry, let me say...  you may be grossly underestimating the cost of maintaining the infrastructure related to copper wire last-mile telephony—especially when video and internet are already steadily switching to from HFC to PON.

The big MSO here in Wichita had been working toward eliminating all non-digital phone (outdoor or indoor NIU) equipment at least since I moved here, and I've lived here for 16 years now.  They finally upgraded everyone a couple of years ago.  The primary motivation for the change was the fact that such equipment was antique, was expensive to replace, and had a zillion little parts inside that could go wrong.  And, with the Go All Digital switch several years ago, every household was already going to be getting digital signal anyway for their video and internet.  The only possible reason to not use HFC into the home would be a customer's having landline phone but no video or internet service:  an increasingly rare type of customer, and an end result of poorer telephone sound quality.  The number of customers not needing to use coax to carry digital signal for something other than phone is so low as to be trivial, so it makes total sense to use that same POE for phone service as well by means of an eMTA gateway.  With the further march toward fiber, it's only more so.

Can you repost your reply in English rather than Acronym?

HFC = Hybrid Fiber–Coaxial.  This means that the plant is all fiber, from the headend to your node.  From the node to the tap, it might be fiber or coax.  From the tap to your house, it's coax.

PON = Passive Optical Network.  This means that the last leg from the tap to your house is also fiber, and that your modem is probably an ONT (Optical Network Terminal) that converts the fiber signal into coax signal for your devices to use.

MSO = Multi-System Operator.  So, Cox or Spectrum or AT&T or whatever.

NIU = Network Interface Unit.  This was the junction box between the service drop to your house and the copper phone wires inside.  It put out some electrical current to help push your phone call through, with a current limiter out at the tap.  With digital telephone, this has been replaced with a proper modem.

POE = Point of Entry.  The hole in your wall that the wires come in through.

eMTA = Embedded Multimedia Terminal Adapter.  This is a modem that can handle digital telephone as well as plain internet.  Many of them have a built-in router, but not all do.