Further evidence of the decline of ma bell

[Van]

What's really killing the land-line telephone business. - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine

Phones Without Homes
What's really killing the land-line telephone business.
By Daniel Gross
Posted Friday, July 25, 2008, at 1:05 PM ET

Are land lines becoming as antiquated as rotary phones?
It's not exactly insightful to point out that young people don't feel the need to have old-fashioned telephones, the kind that are tethered to a house via a wire and provided by a descendant of the original AT&T. This week, when I conducted an informal survey of summer interns and the under-30 set in the offices of both Slate and Newsweek, inquiring whether they had telephones in their sorority houses and shared urban rentals, I was greeted with doleful, patronizing, silly-old-man smiles. The few who did have home phones used Skype. One had a phone at home that was part of a triple-play offering from the local cable company. "Nobody uses it." Adults are finding that they don't need the lines in anywhere near the numbers they used to—and it can't be chalked up simply to instant messing displacing phone conversations and cell phones displacing housebound phones. The economy is playing its part, too.



Something many of us that have installed satellite and or cable already knew

 

[kb7oeb]

Landlines are pricing themselves out of the market, locally Qwest charges $7.50 for caller id. Figure in taxes/fees and a basic feature cost nearly $10.

Using a bundle to get local calls, voicemail, caller id and call waiting approaches $40. People know they are getting gouged when they see these features and more included with their cell phone at no extra charge. They need to start including the features that cost nearly zero to provide in the basic land line price.

T-Mobile just introduced a voip service add on for $10 that can replace a POTS landline for most people.

 

[mogera]

I firmly believe in having at least one hard wired landline in your home. As a NY'er, I remember 9/11 when cell phones were useless. Also, in our most recent blackout the landline was always there especially after the cell batteries ran out with no pwer to recharge them.

 

[charper1]

I agree with kb7oeb about pricing themselves out and with mogera about a safety line. In fact, when I got my naked DSL, the AT&T rep asked why I wanted no land-line and after I explained my cell & VoIP use patters they THROUGH IN (FOR FREE) a restricted life line. Unlimited in area code, 800 & 911 use, no LD, no features. BUT ITS FREE and a land line.

 

[Juan]

UMM guys Landlines are being destroyed by Ma Bell. She wants to get rid of them. Copper plant is where the majority of the maintenance costs ( aka union employees) exist in the phone company. (They Think) that Fiber plant will require far fewer employees than traditional copper plant. By allowing copper to deteroriate at an alarming rate rthey are "forcing" traditional land line customers to non-union wireless subsidiaries. A strong fiber backbone is required for cellular service. (cell towers dont always talk to other cell towers directly. The bottom line is that MA Bell is is really Union Busting ( not that this is a bad thing) by getting rid of landlines

 

[Bob Haller]

verizons its the network commercials burn me up.......

we have FIOS and getting them to fix a network routerproblem that effected all the fios customers in our prefix was like pulling teeth on a mad gorilla.

my next goal is the be rid of the landline fios phone line. because you cant depend on its working

They tell me fibre is very cheap to maintain COs have no on site staff just roving crews of repair people. the network techs are in hampton roads virginia and somewhere in texas

fortunately my business line is still copper, and its staying that way! if they attempt to force me to convert that line to FIOS I will change providers

 

[riffjim4069]

Conversely, Verizon and AT&T Wireless are both doing very well, as are their broadband services, and FiOS TV is going to have more than 2 million video subscribers by the end of 2008. Until we switched over to FiOS, we didn't have a landline phone for close to 3 years - our $10 a month VOIP service coupled with our wireless phones served us very well. We would not have the landline if it weren't for Verizon's bundled discount package. Unless Verizon extends the bundled discount, the landline will get yanked as soon as the promotion ends.

Bob, as far as Verizon goes (and formerly GTE, Bell Atlantic, etc.) we have had nothing but outstanding service from our local phone companies over the years. Our FiOS service has been 100% reliable so far and their customer service is top-notch. Of course, their ordering and billing systems are a complete disaster.

 

[Bob Haller]

my experience with FIOS has been the pits

bundling is all about attempting to retain landline customers........

verizons land lines are bleeding customers.....

 

[Van]

bundling is all about attempting to retain landline customers........

Agread and its not just verizon, att/bellsouth is a leach.