Verizon is telling a community in New Jersey that hard-wired phone lines are outdated and that residents no longer need them , the AP reports. AT&T and other competitors seem to share this view. How about you?
Hey Newton, how important are your landlines?
by Greg Reibman | Jul 9, 2013 | Newton | 40 comments
After my mom passed away, I felt nostalgic about losing the land line number that she had kept for almost fifty years in the house I grew up in and later in the house she moved to in the same town. I even remember having a party line, and that the local exchange was “keystone 3” instead of 533. And, I admit it, I am having a hard time letting go of the land line number we have had for 17 years in Newton. But, as a practical matter, we hardly ever use it, most of the voice mails we get these days are automated messages to remind us of medical appointments or credit card offers, and we hardly ever use our land line to make calls. Even though we signed up for the “do not call” list, we still get calls from pollsters, telemarketers and other uninvited callers. Honestly, I am not sure why we keep it, other than for sentimental reasons.
There’s an important distinction here between copper land lines and land lines, in general. In fact, there is huge incentive for phone companies like Verizon to give up their copper networks and replace service with far cheaper VoIP services over coax or fiber — and of course, charge almost as much for them.
In Newton, where we have triple redundancy (quadruple, if you count the copper), that may have already happened. I don’t think you can get Verizon to provide a copper line to your house anymore, and many people are using VoIP and don’t even know it. With cellular service quality what it is around here and rates relatively high, I’ll take my VoIP line anyday. We’re not quite ready to ditch the cable to our house for data, but maybe that day will come.
Given the technology, a VoIP land line should really cost pennies, not $30-40/month. One Newton company tried to provide a choice over the monopolies, offering a telephone service that was basically free for the last 10 years or so. They discontinued it last month.
I wish someone would revive the idea Ken Parker was pushing, to have municipal wi-fi Internet service that resident could buy, as an alternative to the commercial ones. I only have a Verizon land line to get DSL (That, and a sentimental attachment to my parents’ phone number that goes back to when I was in third grade.)
The biggest obstacle for me would be quality of reception. Inside my house, the reception on my cell is spotty. So I would hate to have to depend on that for my primary line.
OK, techies…if the power goes out, copper-pair landlines will still work. Is there still redundancy with VoIP or cellular?
We have a landline, and use it all of the time. It is realiable, and if there is an emergency the kids can dial 911 . . . . and they know where the phone is. We even have a non-cordless phone. We use it for everything and our cell phones are used when needed.
I think it is essential to have a landline phone (and the service) for many reasons, including these:
1. Our home has really bad cell phone reception with mulitple carriers . . . so I don’t want to rely on iffy service.
2. If my husband and I leave, I don’t want the baby sitter to have to rely on her cell phone to call us or 911. Use the house phone – good reception and can be found.
I have no idea if I have copper lines or other lines, but I know that my house phone doesn’t depend on reception from the cell tower.
3. This is
I was always skeptical of getting the city into new ventures. Anyone know how the wifi thing is going for Brookline? I think it was a partnership with the company that I mentioned which just went bankrupt. It’s a nice supplemental service, but wifi-only may make sense in remote or sparsely populated areas. I don’t think the performance comes close to measuring up to fiber, and we’re a demanding bunch when it comes to bandwidth. A related question – how many people are ready to “cut the cord” when it comes to cable TV? That’s another industry that it’s going to take far too long to destroy, and another “land line” going to most houses in Newton.
My land line phone is basically an advertising delivery device. Not unlike postal mail these days, actually.
Sallee, yes, with VoIP, the power source is basically shifted to the customer. As I recall, cellular towers didn’t fare well in the last major storm and power outage we had either, but service is so bad around here on a good day, I’d hardly notice.
On the plus side, when there is power, I think broadband tends to be more reliable than dedicated, brittle copper lines which require individual termination and switching. It’s not really a choice, just a matter of time before the copper is gone. It’s just too expensive to run by comparison.
Just 2 months ago, my husband got a call on our landline from a college friend he hadn’t heard from in 15 years and he’s going out west to visit him this summer. We’d moved and the friend had moved and changed his number, so our landline was the only way for the two of them to find each other. Whenever I’m ready to give it up, something like this happens and we decide to keep it.
I find comfort in knowing if we dial 911, we will get some response to our house without the extra steps required with cell phones. Even if we don’t speak a word, w a landline someone shows up. That’s cheap insurance.
That being said, do we still need the various Fire boxes across the city? There seems to be a line item in the City budget for maintaining boxes, etc What’s that about?
Jane – That’s a curious detail of the existing system that’s always puzzled me. You can look up someone’s land line in the standard phone directories but not their cell phone. I have no idea why that should be. Anyone know?
Without a landline, my daughter (who doesn’t yet have a cell phone) would have no way to make or receive a call if she is home alone. And, as others have mentioned, cell phone reception in our house is spotty at best.
I just feel more relaxed talking on a landline. The sound and tonal quality is so much better than a cellphone. We also keep two old black rotary telephones in the basement. That’s the only way to get a landline to work if the power goes out.
Our 244 number (it used to be Bigelow and then Bigelow 4) has been our family’s number since 1935. It would be tough to lose it.
I have auditory processing issues and rely on my landline for all phone calls because the sound quality is so much better. I seldom use my cell phone – I don’t text and have a pay-as-you-go plan that costs me $100/year for 1000 minutes that I never come near using up.
We seldom use our landline but we still have one non-cordless phone that I consider my security blanket in case of some big emergency. Our biggest problem with it is that we never answer it because of all the telemarketing calls and we always forget to check voice mail. So if someone leaves a message, it could take us days, if not weeks, to retrieve it.
But I still don’t want to give it up. The 332 phone number has been ours for 26 years, and my husband had it for four years before he decided to share it with me!
I’m astounded that people are willing to pay whatever it costs to keep a landline simply because they’ve had it for a long time.
If you have poor cell phone coverage in your house most carriers have micro cells for no cost to put in home. I have one from ATT and I went from 2 bars to all bars.
Dumped the landline years and years ago. Got cell phones for my young daughters (at the time) and haven’t looked back.
Do I see a generation gap in this conversation?
I’m with Gail, though. We never check messages, rarely use it, click off those poor telemarketers faster than they can get in a “hello”, forget the “how are you today”. It’s days are probably numbered.
I am under 50, and would not give up the land line. . . . .
@Kim, I had no idea microcells, but then again, if I leave with my husband, there would be no phone in the house for the baby sitter. I don’t think the baby sitter should have to supply her own phone to call me in the case of an emergency.
Plus, even a young kid can dial 911 from a landline. My husband and I have our cell phones password protected so you can’t get to the phone part of the cell phone unless you know the password.
I have a classic old “princess” model slim line phone plugged into my landline and I do use it. I appreciate that even on those rare occasions when we lose power my phone is still there and working, and unlike my cell phone it never needs recharging. I’m also very stingy about giving out my cell phone number so my landline is a keeper.
Sharp observations from everyone here… yes, the new technology uses the cellular network, so it’s cell phone call quality. Cell phone voice quality has improved, but I think it will always trail that of wired connections. Personally, I think there are issues with cell phone infrastructure overloading during emergencies, which could be a real problem for so-called “lifeline” services.
The muni WiFi plan didn’t pan out for many reasons. A big one that’s missed is that the wireless backbone frequencies didn’t play well with wet leaves — and aggressive tree trimming isn’t going to win fans here.
Yes, the voice services themselves can be shaved down to less than a penny per minute, maybe 2-3 cents with overhead. But all the facilities, equipment and people needed to turn it into an actual service make it much more expensive. But yes, if Verizon charges $20-$30/month for such a service, you bet they’re making a decent profit. And every so often a hurricane Sandy or similar event comes along and eats into that profit. But none of the utility companies are in business to lose money…
Jerry, I think the whitepages, and the monthly no-listing fee, is a holdover from the Ma Bell days, primarily for the baby bells. Amazing it still exists! Also, by dealing with a “phone company” you have the privilege of paying nearly an extra $10/month in taxes for your line! So much for free markets.
My VoIP landlines are unlisted by default and get very few telemarketing calls. If I do get a call I don’t want, I can ban the caller with a single click. My voicemails get transcribed and forwarded to my e-mail. E-911 goes straight to the NPD, and I just ported over a 244- (I mean Bigelow 4) number which has been in my family for about 50 years. I have no desire to set up a microcell and worry about keeping batteries charged when there’s broadband already running directly to my house. Cost is about $14/month. Landline FTW.
Dulles, fascinating about the wet leaves! Voice services often cost (retail) a fraction of a cent per minute, even overseas. Thing is, with VoIP, there’s very little equipment by comparison. Without the copper, entire buildings, like Verizon’s facility in Newtonville, get replaced by a rack, located pretty much anywhere. Aside from the task of bridging to the older telephone networks, the telephone utility is quickly becoming irrelevant. The telephone call is turning into a software service, either over broadband or cellular, with the large utilities having less advantage. Companies like Verizon are forced to look elsewhere to make money, like cellular networks and entertainment. Hopefully, the cable industry is the next one headed for extinction.
I don’t use voice mail – still have my old answering machine. I like it much better because it’s easy to see when someone has left a message and I don’t have to go through all the rigmarole vm requires.
I also have one phone that isn’t cordless – again, better sound quality plus it’s good to have one that doesn’t depend on electricity in power outages.
As to cost – with bundled service (phone, cable, internet), the additional cost of phone is not much.
Newton Mom – I believe you can dial 911 from a cell even if it’s locked, just like you can answer it.
Like most people with landlines in the home, I have multiple phone stations throughout the house. I do not carry my cellphone with me within the house.
Questions: 1) How do people with just cellphones handle the multiple location within the house issue? and 2) How do you handle multiple people needing a handset at the same time (like when a sibling or parent calls on a holiday)? Using the speaker phone capability is not a completely satisfactory alternative; that requires everyone gathering in one place within the house.
Hi @Adam, I knew a bit about the RFP (as a volunteer advisor, not a city employee!). The city was lucky enough to get in a brilliant, pro-WiFi expert who was a Newton resident who helped out gratis. We tried to creatively figure out how it could be made to work in Newton, but even our generally favorable muni-WiFi folks couldn’t get past all the complications.
You’re right that VoIP is very cheap to operate. But maintaining the access networks (both wireline and wireless) is a big cost item, in terms of operations staff and equipment refresh; large-scale systems to track, manage, bill and store data for billions of interactions by millions of customers are byzantine and costly; customer service and support call centers cost money; web portals that can process orders cost money; marketing and promoting new services to the public isn’t free… the list goes on and on. An example of when service is cheap, but isn’t designed for scale or quality, is Magic Jack. And it’s only cheap because the service rides over the (costly to deploy and maintain) broadband access networks of other telco/cable/wireless providers.
Not that I’m a big fan of big telcos or big cable. But a company like Verizon or AT&T today make most of their money, and much much more profit, not from dialtone of any form but from their mobile wireless customers.
I’m under 50 and we have the high tech, cordless land line phones, but I prefer to use my 1960’s rotary phone. Granted, the rotary doesn’t work, but after attaching a push button dialing system to the handle it makes calls and sounds great. We lost our 969 number years ago and I miss it. I use a cell phone, too, but have to admit, I don’t like it.
MGWA – there is no way to get to the numbers to dial 911 from my locked phone. . . I can’t figure it out, and I am sure my 7 year old would not be able to figure it out in an emergency. Thus the land line. 🙂 If something happened to me (I fell or had a medical emergency) I know that every level of my home has a phone that you pick up and dial . . . .
I’d get rid of our landline in a heartbeat. The only calls that ever come into it are telemarketer calls.
My wife vetoes that idea though. She likes the concept of a family phone rather than just a pair of personal cell phones, and as a backup system.
I’m surprised that no one on this thread has yet mentioned a fax machine. Some people still use them both in and out. That’s the main reason we still have a landline.
Max – many (most?) of us now scan and email rather than faxing things.
mgwa – maybe so, but that’s a few extra steps for some.
I agree with Ted, Shawn, Jerry Reilly, Jane and Gail about calls from pollsters, telemarketers and other uninvited callers.
I thought that since my number was registered with the Do Not Call List that I wouldn’t get telemarketers.
@ Joshua Norman – You thought right, but the FTC is overwhelmed with Do-Not-Call violation complaints, and many telemarketers just brazenly call anyway, knowing that enforcement is toothless.
http://morristown.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/do-not-call-list-enforcement-receives-no-answer
However, the FTC see some success
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/07/dnc.shtm
I’m sure if we all complain to our Congressional representatives, they will get together in a bipartisan way and exempt the FTC enforcement effort from the Sequester, just like the air travel industry did. Right?
Max, never underestimate the power of organized grassroots effort. NumbersUSA, a grassroots immigration reform group was able to shut down the Senate’s telephone system in 2007 through their intensive activism against the amnesty proposed then.
https://scout.sunlightfoundation.com/item/speech/CREC-2012-05-07-pt1-PgS2919-2.chunk0/sen-jeff-sessions-recognizing-15th-anniversary-of-numbersusa
Max,
There are fax programs via the web now too.
Kim, yes, I know, but still it’s extra steps. My needs tend to be 1 page Q&D.
Those of you who still have landlines, who are your service providers?
Verizon