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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The only reason most of us have landline phones anymore is because we are required to by some other item in our home. Good riddance to an outmoded technology and make way for the new. Now that being said, if you want an old landline phone then who am I to tell you what to do. Unless a persons refusal to give it up casts me more money elsewhere then i got skin in the game.
As a landline victim, I would like to know the procedure to get an Obamaphone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUX5DlSG3cc
dear Diane, Love your show and listen online bc I live in Seattle but miss the other Washington.
I keep my landline so I can call my cell phone when I can't find it. Usually in a coat pocket or a couch cushion.
Regards,Fran
The landline system has gone through an evolution over the decades that has given it practically unmatched reliability. I wasn't surprised that after the super storm Sandy swept over the East Coast, places without cell phone service still had working landlines.
It has been true with my phone that when the power has been knocked out by storms, the landline has always still worked. The classic landline phone almost always keeps working and doesn't need a battery to be recharged when the power lines are down.
I haven't heard the show yet, so I hope these types of things are mentioned.
The Romney-Ryan-47% phone is available to all those of us dependent victims.....you can see it in operation in a certain soup commercial. Progresso cans and twine.
For the security minded, a wired line is a bit harded to hack into without actually coming on your premises......and devices ARE available to detect taps. Wireless transmissiins are never secure.......always open to listeners even with scramblers.
Anybody can listen to my own few calls on any source.......be prepared for the boring truth.
Biggest problem with land lines is overpricing. Technology from the 19th century competing with smart phones etc. But the wireless phone networks in the US are far more egregious in pricing.......costs too much for too little. Folks from India get similar plans at a fraction of US prices.
Landlines are most reliable for voice quality and during an emergency. During a storm, you can rely on a landline to communicate with others, unlike a cell phone.
Cell phones emit microwave radiation. Long-term studies involving over 10 years of cell phone use show an increased risk of brain tumors, such as a glioma which killed Teddy Kennedy. Cell phones are also associated with reduced fertility. See the research at http://www.centerforsaferwireless.org/Research.php.
We should be able to choose whether we want a landline or to expose ourselves to microwave radiation. Some people are extremely sensitive to this type of radiation and can't be around it without experiencing severe health symptoms. http://www.centerforsaferwireless.org/Our-Stories.php They shouldn't be denied the right to choose along with others.
After 10 years of having only a cell phone, I had a landline installed because there is simply no reliable cell reception in my new home. And I'm not out in the wilderness but in the middle of town, only 2.5 miles from my former house where my cell phone worked with no problem. The only way to get any cell phone reception is to stand in the driveway, stand on one foot and hold a wire coat hanger in one hand. I've managed to move into a cell phone blackhole from which there is no escape - ridiculous!
My wife and I continue to discuss the elimination of our landline. However, with two children under the age of ten in the home, we feel that removing the house phone could create a safety risk if there is an emergency and someone needs to dial 911. Plus, cellular phones have yet to match the quality of a landline.
Diane:
I love the computer, the cell phone, the calculator and all of the technology. I am not, however, ready to give up writing with pad, pencil and typewriter, the land lines and counting/math just because of the new technology. Ain't ready yet and don't trust the players.
Kate
DC
I tend to give my landline out to people as my primary contact number as I wish to keep my cell phone use to the minimum due to the increased risk of brain tumors. We have seen so many adult cases of brain tumors linked to cell phone use. I place a higher priority on health than on convenience!
I have Western Electric rotary-dial telephones in my house, and other people comment on the clarity of my connection. Assuming they are going to live as long as I do, I wouldn't trade them; although I do have a touch-tone keypad at my desk for when I must use it. The deplorable quality of "candy-bar" telephones' transmission disgusts me.
Yes, I want landlines to stay around.
Sam
Austin, TX
Critical for national security reasons to keep land lines as well as the post office. Also important for national security that the Diane Rehm actually do a full hour FULL HOUR on expansion of Israeli illegal settlements. Also important for national security that the Diane Rehm show and other MSM outlets have experts like Hillary and Flynt Mann Leverett on your program to discuss the facts in regard to Iran. Hell they are right in your town. The Diane Rehm show has their tails between their legs on particular issues. Pathetic
Prior to my husband and I having children, we only used our mobile phones and cancelled or landline. However, we felt the need to reinstitute our landline once we had children. In case for emergencies, we wanted to have a landline that was easy for the children to use that wasn't overly complicated with extra buttons, apps, etc. like our mobile phones have.
Electrosensitivity is a disability recognized in other countries (Russia, Sweden, France, Italy), but not covered by media in the US for some reason. People who are electrosensitive can't use cell phones and other wireless devices without getting severe symptoms. I hope that landlines don't go away for the sake of access to communication by these people, including myself. Thanks for sharing my comments.
I finally dumped the land-line after six months of multiple harassing daily robo-calls from a credit card outfit in Florida. No way to block them, they did not respect our Do Not Call Status, and they refused to stop. Although I miss the security and clarity of the land-line, I can just imagine how horrid last election season might have been with it. My family all have cell phones now and enjoy the privacy and flexibility despite higher cost and hassle of charging.
Lorraine in Kalamazoo, Michigan
When the tornado tore through Dexter, and through the multiple day blackout, our landline worked. Our cell phones didn't. As a parent of small children, I'm not OK relying on cell phones when things get bad.
I keep a landline phone for two reasons. One - living in a rural area means I don't have reliable mobile service (any provider). Two - if I dial 911 on my mobile phone, I have no idea which EMS answers. We don't have mobile-enhanced 911 in rural Missouri. And mobile phone service providers will not voluntarily provide geo-location information to Emergency Services (EMS) on their own in rural Missouri. They instead ask for voters to approve a tax instead of engaging in the "social contract" to help those who need emergency help. It's hard to believe that providing a few cents on every account is going to cause mobile phone providers to go bankrupt to allow that information to be provided, at no cost to EMS when someone dials 911. If I can get my location via google maps I know my mobile provider knows it too. So pass it along. And speaking of area codes, I was given a different area code for my mobile number than my landline. It will cost me $20 to change it. So to EMS I live in an entirely different location than I actually live when I call 911.
It's very simple. Land line quality is vastly superior and cell phone service is vastly more expensive.
The problem, from my consumer perspective, is that the phone companies do not want to provide land lines, probably because it is expensive. I prefer a land line because I think speech is clearer and communications easier, but I tried repeatedly for over 60 days to get a land line installed in my new home and finally gave up. The technicians never arrived when they said they would.
Here's MY question. What about us people that live in a large place like the eastern end, north shore of Long Island where the *^@# cell phones DO NOT WORK! Cell phone technology is ridiculously poor. This is almost 2013, how can that be?!!
POTS is self-powered, generally, but many of us use phones that require power (e.g., cordless phones, etc) - which isn't powered by the phone network.
Furthermore, in a storm-situation, POTS isn't always the most reliable or quickest to come back. After the derecho, my Verizon landline was nonfunctional for four days -- my VoIP system was operational just as soon as I had power.
Moreover, my VoIP system is about 20x more functional, and about 1/10th the cost of the POTS system.
Cas Saint Denis wrote:
"After 10 years of having only a cell phone, I had a landline installed because there is simply no reliable cell reception in my new home. And I'm not out in the wilderness but in the middle of town, only 2.5 miles from my former house where my cell phone worked with no problem. The only way to get any cell phone reception is to stand in the driveway, stand on one foot and hold a wire coat hanger in one hand. I've managed to move into a cell phone blackhole from which there is no escape - ridiculous!"
Not an uncommon problem, though less so than it used to be. Land-line Ho! as far as I'm concerned. They need to stay for safety/security/availability reasons. "Infrastructure" is one of the roles of government. I think communication falls into that proper role. And technology-wise, until you have cell service that doesn't require a tower (which is vulnerable), land-lines have to stay.
One clarification - approximately 40% of households are using wireless only. Of the 60% that use "landlines" - less than 40% -- probably close to one-third by now -- use traditinoal SWITCHED services and more than 20% use digital IP technology or "voice over IP", mostly from cable companies.
Pat Brogan - USTelecom
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. Wireless and VoIP are so called "best effort" services meaning voice quality and connection are not exactly guaranteed. Businesses need reliable and quality service and the ability to operate communications during emergencies and natural disasters. Furthermore, most of the connections to commercial buildings in the US are served by a copper line, and technologies today can provide high bandwidth broadband over copper.
I do not have a personal cell phone and have no interest in obtaining one, for a variety of issues. Nor do I have cable television. I'm perfectly happy with my landline, DSL and over-the-air TV. I just don't see any need to pay more for these things which are "wants" not "needs". I do have electric cordless phones in the house. When the power goes out, I pull a corded phone out of the closet and plug it in. Nothing to recharge and if there is an emergency, I have access to 911. I live in an urban area and am not anti-technology. I work in a hi-tech environment, on computers every day. There's a phone at my desk and phones in my home. In between, I enjoy the peace and quiet of not having (or paying for) a cell phone.
Our household continues to have a landline and would hate to see this go. Our house security system also relies on this for communication with the central monitoring system which alerts when the alarm is set off so without a landline I would fear loss of this with power outage. Even with power would not want less secure wireless for central monitoring communication. Thanks.
Hi Diane, please remind everyone that a cell phone is a 2-way radio like a walkie talkie and technically not considered a phone similarly to a landline phone...also it is not presently covered under the commuication privacy act.
What about people with home offices? How do we get a business listing for a cell phone that can be easily found by people looking for our services?
The copper line is great! It works ALL the time, even when there is a tornado or hurricane, for goodness sake! DON'T STOP COPPER!
We gave up the copper line because of a financial push by the provider: it was not economically feasible to maintain the copper line and still get the "package deal" from the provider that included cell phone, computer and TV.
With GREAT regret, we let them take out the copper line. We were told we could never get it back - though I have since found out it is possible to restore the copper line, but expensive to do so.
When there is bad weather, I am a wreck wondering whether the 8-hour battery in our house will last. I definitely feel nervous at the thought of being cut off from possible help in an emergency.
I'm disabled. I use only a cellphone now, hanging around my neck, secured with a neck cord with velcro to the phone. So I already have it with me, any where in this retirement facility, in my car, or in town. I feel much safer (I am!) I have no need for a land line.