Future Of Landline Phones
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-12-06/future-landline-phones
Landline phone use is plummeting. The telecom industry argues it should no longer be required to provide the service. Consumer groups disagree. The future of the landline.
Guests
Scott Cleland
chief executive of The Precursor Group
Gigi Sohn
president and co-founder of Public Knowledge
Betty Ann Kane
chairman of the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia
Craig Moffet
senior analyst for U.S. Telecommunications, Cable and Satellite at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co
Comments
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In 2004 when three hurricanes blew through Central Florida in six weeks, our hardwired landline was the only form of communication that still worked with our family within Florida, and to call out-of-state relatives to assure them we were safe. We didn't hear from family who were cell-only users for hours after electricity went out, so worried about their safety and whereabouts. We'll probably keep our landline for that reason alone, although we very seldom use it for regular phone calls anymore. We rely on our cell phones 90% of the time or more.
Leverage the strength of all residences being connected to landline or PSTN networks. Use them for the public good of free (though slow) internet access or a means to assist analysis of our power grid and avoid future black/brown outs.
My wife and I live near Chapel Hill, NC but our cell phone connection is unreliable at best even after installing a booster. I would be concerned that especially in case of an emergency, it could mean the difference between life and death. It's not about quality in my opinion.
In rural areas there are several concerns if landlines are no longer available. My experiences are in Vermont and western NC. In many places in Vermont, cell phone coverage is poor or non-existent. Services, such as Skype, are cannot be used because internet access is non-existent or limited to dial-up. Cable is not available. Only expensive satellite internet access is available. Therefore, low income people in these areas would have no communication link whatsoever if the landline was not available. Here in western NC, much of the internet service is via the copper phone lines. Therefore, if these lines were not maintained, internet access would be unavailable.
James5436 wrote:
"What some fail to mention is that businesses, as a whole, continue to rely on landline for quality and that it is a hardened system. "
Excellent point and when I saw today's topic sitting at my desk in my office looking at my phone, I thought the same thing.
Look at who has a financial interest in eliminating the land line.
One very important reason of landlines not mentioned so far is that there is a significant portion of the US that depend on a landline for internet access (dialup).
I get calls from AT&T about every month urging me to sign up for broadband. My answer for years has been -- Great! Are you sure that you can offer this? The AT&T rep has always come back that it isn't availaable to me.
Steve Meyer
Shocked to hear the comment that only a small number of people still need landline phone, and therefore too expensive to maintain. Only a few? How about "the few" who are disabled, for whom we, as a responsible society, provide accommodation at restaurants, motels, schools, libraries, etc. We don't expect a "guarnteed rate of return" when we accommodate the disabled -- the few. There shouldn't be a guaranteed rate of return for moral, responsible policy.
As to reliability, I live in Fairfax County -- a well-connected location -- but we live in a pocket of poor connectivity, so we cannot make calls from our house on a cell phone. Verizon accidentally cut our connection one day while installing someone else's service, and we had NO service for 24 hours. My husband is in poor health. At 2:00 a.m., am I expected to wake up the neighbors for a phone call? The greedy communication services should honor the social contract....
What about the deaf who need land lines to make their technology work
Mobile phone voice quality will get better only when each mobile company start using the 4G for the voice and not only for internet access.
Once we have more bandwidth on 4G, we can see a very good voice quality and reliability.
-GG
Dianne,
I live in Warner NH, not the most rural section of NH, and do not get a signal for cell phone usage. If i walk 200 feet in any direction I get a signal but not at my house. It is too expensive for any carrier to set up a new cell tower just for me and one neighbor who have no signal. If we lose the land line will there be a law that requires the carriers to provide a signal for houses like mine?
I am unemployed. Today, employers prefer to conduct interviews over the phone. My cell phone has terrible reception, however, I cannot get land line service where I live....which is in a rather remote area in the country. I want a land line. I am wondering how many employers have rejected me due to my annoying reception on my cell phone. Where do all the taxes that are on our phone bills go? Certainly not to improving land lines.
I believe the telecom revolution has been a mixed blessing. I need the landline for security system in my home; the quality & Reliability of VoIP has not kept up. The DSL speeds are not upto par for new services like video streaming...so we are left with paying a lot more for services that are sub par.
As far as competition is concerned, there is none. Where I live, in a well off urban large city, I am limited to Time Warner for Cable (DSL is not up to par); there is no other alternative!!
These large companies need to be broken up ONCE AGAIN!!
Hi and LOVE your show for many years.
For a few years now, I have been wanting to use only my cell phone, but I find that hearing is impaired. Even with the use of ear plugs, it is not much better. ALSO, when speaking with older people, they cannot hear as well as on landline phone. I'd love nothing more than to save $102 monthly landline charges. The cell phone providers hopefully will provide better service in every way, auditory and reliability of steady service. Thanks ever so much, and take good care !!! Lea in Brookline.
Diane and the guests keep talking about lack of reliable cell service in places like West Virginia. I live in suburban Washington, DC (10 miles from downtown), and I cannot get cell service anywhere within a mile of my house. I live and commute to the capital of the free world, and if I didn't have a land line at my house, I wouldn't have a phone.
I was in a traffic accident half a mile from my house. I couldn't use my cell phone to call for a tow truck because of lack of service. A police officer offered me his cell phone, and that also didn't work. I had to walk home to use my land line to get my car pulled out of the middle of the road.
Hi and LOVE your show for many years.
For a few years now, I have been wanting to use only my cell phone, but I find that hearing is impaired. Even with the use of ear plugs, it is not much better. ALSO, when speaking with older people, they cannot hear as well as on landline phone. I'd love nothing more than to save monthly landline charges. The cell phone providers hopefully will provide better service in every way, auditory and reliability of steady service. Thanks ever so much, and take good care !!! Lea in Brookline.
What about the deaf who need landlines to make their technology work?
I have laptops, cellphones, iPod, iPad, use Skype frequently, etc....and I have a land line. I rarely use the land line but have kept it since it is the only way to receive and send telephone calls during emergencies. During Hurricane Charlie (and subsequent hurricanes here in Florida), there was no service to be found for many days. However, because I had a land line and an old phone that did not rely on electricity to run, I was able to check up on my elderly mother and my out-of-state children.
So, I will continue to pay for this faithful land line since it is a lifeline when most truly needed.
Julie
My cell phone works very poorly inside my house. I'd like to give up my landline, but without it, my ability to receive calls inside the house would be close to nil. (I do live in a rural area, but just a 10 minute drive to a highly developed area.) Cellular reliability needs to be strengthened considerably before we can get rid of the landlines.
I have a landline account with Verizon which includes DSL. FIOS is not available in my area (Alexandria). I do not have cable. How would people like me be affected? It would seem I'd have to pay a great deal more. Verizon told me to keep my landline, by the way, when I asked about canceling it but retaining DSL...they said it would cost me more if I dropped the landline and kept DSL.
I realize that consumers are opting for new technology. The crux of the issue appears to be diversification orf an industry that provided a single service and now provides other services that are more desireable most of the time and the mindset of consumers. There is a wow factor to the newer technologies. People are blinded by the bells and whistles and appear to have forgotten or devalued the dependability of just being able to talk on the phone no matter the situation. Emergencies are not constant events. The newer technologies are woefully unreliable. Many do notknow this until they are subscribers. The phone company does not reveal the limitations. Many with FIOS were surprised to have they had no phone with the dfirst storm. I am having trouble retaining my copper lines and cannot find anyone to help me do so.
3 concerns to consider before eliminating land lines:
1. The cumulative exposure to radiation if we were to use cell phones every where, everytime: at home and work!
2. The point of progress and technology: aren't they about more choices, not fewer? Eliminating land lines eliminates choices!
3. Personal and public safety: Landlines should be available in public spaces to allow crime victims to phone the police and family - cell phones are so easily stolen.
We need have input from Homeland Security, Fire and Rescue, or even CERT community emergency response team) members. During training or informational sessions to the public they discuss the importance of people having landline phone, copper not internet based, as well as old fashion battery powered radios. During a storm here in DC area internet landlines, 911, and cellular phone services failed. People lost power for days, so Fire and Rescue asked people to check on and reach out door to door, and drive to fire and rescue if assistance was needed. Copper landlines and internet for those that had power were the only persons connected.
We need have input from Homeland Security, Fire and Rescue, or even CERT community emergency response team) members. During training or informational sessions to the public they discuss the importance of people having landline phone, copper not internet based, as well as old fashion battery powered radios. During a storm here in DC area internet landlines, 911, and cellular phone services failed. People lost power for days, so Fire and Rescue asked people to check on and reach out door to door, and drive to fire and rescue if assistance was needed. Copper landlines and internet for those that had power were the only persons connected.
In our rural area in south central Indiana, our ATT copper land line is 5 miles long and so noisy from static that even dialup internet is unavailable. The cell towers are so far away our cell service often drops and is very weak. We have no reliable service either way. Since we are in an area with low population density there is no intention by ATT to upgrade these lines.
We only keep the land line so we can receive phone calls as the cell phone rarely rings inside the house.
We'd love to drop the land line, but don't dare. We are saddled with land line, cell and poor quality satellite internet bills as DSL is also unavailable (but don't get me started on internet access!!!).
ATT spent its Federal broadband monies on upgrading the cell service in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl instead of improving rural access.
Not a fan of ATT or Verizon (or HughesNet), but options are not available.
Although my wife and I have both cell phones and a landline, the advantage of the cell phones is that the numbers are not listed in the phone book. Thus we get no annoying solicitations from sales people, charities wanting donations, or politicians. Will this change with a new law?
Robert Brown
Cary, NC
919-467-4409
Most of us use landlines for emergency purposes. What we've learned after 9/11 is that cell phones were deemed rather useless, whether from too much traffic, or government intervention. I don't see that changing!
We have a corollary to this issue: Cable TV. I live along an Interstate corridor, but 20 miles away there is no cable service. Why? Not enough people--which equates to not ENOUGH profit for their effort. Satellite service aside--there is none for cell phones--those people are Simply Out of Luck (read that as S-O-L !) Businesses will never do the RIGHT thing, only the IMMEDIATELY PROFITABLE thing.
This conversation, while good on one side is sorely lacking in knowledge of just how the phone network works. Nearly all cell phone calls travel on the same network infrastructure as land line calls. One point you did bring out is that the wire line network is an alternative power grid that serves our nations communications infrastructure. Additionally, the wire line network is paid for and has only maintenance costs. Think of it like the nations interstate highway system. You wouldn't through that away would you?
Get someone on your panel that can discuss how cell phone calls actually work. The difference between a lane line phone and a cell phone is only in the way they connect to the broader wire network period (Last Mile). This is typically referred to as access to the broader network. House or business access to the broader wire network vs Cell wireless access to the broader wire network. But don't forget that the land line phone in your home or business is a powered by the broader wire network.
Getting rid of land-line service would be like eliminating roads so that everyone could use jet-packs. Sounds cool, but how do you move freight?
The essential problem with eliminating land-lines is physics and the technology with which cell phones work. Some things just are because they are.
Competition is great for the customer who is entering the market. If you already have service you have to scrap it in order to buy new, and the industry has "planned obsolescence" down to a science.