Why some major phone companies are hanging up on the landline

Phone companies are starting to phase out landlines for newer technology like fiber optic and wireless but the old-school service still has its advantages in rural areas and during power outages. NBC’s Joe Fryer reports for TODAY.
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#phone #technology #landlines

[@dorothyedwards7225]

I think it's vital to keep the landline phones! As mentioned, cell phones are not 100% reliable!

[@dfirth224]

Landline phone calls can be carried on fiber optic cable. It's more reliable and cheaper for the phone company.

[@timothyhandl2223]

And the Pay phones.

[@JohnPotts-kq7kk]

I would still have my landline but lightening killed it in 2017. When I called repair service, they said would be $75 to come out even though problem was before entering my house. So after 43 years, told them to shove it, disconnect immediately. Bought a cheap flip phone, started to use no contract monthly card available everywhere & began saving over $150 per month! No longer had to pay BIG BUCKS for long distance calls! Land line providers killed themselves with their extortion fees for very poor service. Now 7 years later, still using no contract, but upgraded to a cheap smart phone from Walmart & enjoy unlimited phone, data & text for around $50! So THANKS to my land line providers greed, I am stretching my social security much further!!!

[@dorothyedwards7225]

Yes, I agree the pay phones. Though they are gone, I feel it's still necessary, when you're abroad, you run out of battery, don't have minutes, car trouble, lost, emergency 911!!!! etc.@@timothyhandl2223

[@frederickbooth7970]

@@dfirth224 Our landline is only copper for 1/2 mile until it reaches the fiber optic cable junction box. So because of that we think our landline + provided 26mb internet service will be here for awhile as cell phones are spotty in our rural area & voice quality is better with copper/ fiber landline.

[@Blueeyedsoul1986]

Keep the landlines 📞

[@sappysuds4545]

Landlines in rural areas are absolutely essential. There are a lot of blackout wifi/cellular areas still.

[@dfirth224]

Fiber optic cable is being installed in rural areas, it will replace copper wire. Fiber optic modems, those fat white or black boxes, already have telephone jacks on them.

[@sappysuds4545]

@@dfirth224 There are blackout areas in Urban centers STILL. How is that going to make a difference if you still can't get reception on hilltops and canyons near major city centers? This will take decades.

[@dorothyedwards7225]

I agree! Modern life moves past the old, less relativity, and the forgotten.@@sappysuds4545

[@r.morris5589]

With are technology there should not be blacks out anymore (I have blackouts in teh center of a major city)> This needs to be come a government issue in congress on making all services work correctly.

[@brianhanafee6836]

Running a wire out to a single fixed location in a rural area isn't the best solution to that.

[@joerogers540]

My household still uses a landline.

[@jddonmoyer2489]

Did we ask for your opinion?

[@maildeliverysubsystemmaile9178]

@@jddonmoyer2489why you gotta be so mean?

[@joerogers540]

@@jddonmoyer2489 No, my opinion was not asked for, however this conversation was started in a public venue where people are going to have conversation and make comments. If you don't want conversation or comments then I advise you to move your activities to a private venue. You may also want to have a look at your unkindness to others. The world has enough hate without you adding to the problem.

[@TheLordOfNothing]

@@jddonmoyer2489 Affirming what's been said, if you don't want to hear someone else's opinion you clearly don't belong in a "comment" section.

[@user-qr7ee2cp4y]

So I'm not the only one?

[@maildeliverysubsystemmaile9178]

It’s all well and good until the power goes out and your cell phone battery dies and you’re stuck with no way to call anyone. Terrible idea.

[@mgk2600]

Same with a VOIP Phone. They rely on the internet being up, and usually need a power source to connect to the internet/cable modem etc. POTS lines/Copper have their own power feed from the Telco which is required to have battery/generator backup

[@JohnPotts-kq7kk]

Was without power for 3 days last summer because of 95 + mph wind. Kept cell phone fully charged by plugging into adapter in pickup when going to get ice & etc. Was never stuck with dead battery .

[@ThroughTheHaze]

Or what if your phone gets stolen/ lost too. I worry about that.

[@CaribouEno]

I live at an ocean. We often have high tide, strong winds and power outages. I am the only one with a classic landline, remote powered (by the telco branch/exchange). After power got out and we got flooding, neighbors on the same floor as me came to me to call their parents/families as it was the only phone working...

[@garquock8023]

Landlines work more reliable than wireless cell phones. Tell AT&T to keep landline service for California and other states!!!!

[@user-rz8ld7iq8h]

My Mom had a medical alert button and the company required that the base station be connected to a landline.

[@770WT]

Landlines are needed for emergencies as well as pay phones are needed in certain public places.

[@N-Lee]

I don't see pay phones anymore. They need to be brought back.

[@BennieWilll]

@@N-Lee The homeless have no way to call family without pay phones. It's sad.

[@N-Lee]

@@BennieWilll Oooh. Good Point. I never thought of that.

[@thankswillie]

silly you@@BennieWilll

[@papagen00]

what's a pay phone

[@luisarturohernandezramirez5910]

A ROTISSERIE PHONE!!!! 🐔🐓

[@c.eb.1216]

A rotisserie's rotating rotary phone, brrring, brrring! 🔔

[@johnd8167]

😄😄😄😄😄!!!!

[@unadomandaperte]

Rotisserie phones- the hottest thing at the time! 😂😂😂

[@jackson5116]

At least it was warm- ever talk into a cold handset?

[@Confessions089]

I literally have one of those.

[@LacoSinfonia]

Thank you AT&T for the impeccable timing showing us why landlines are important.

[@L.Spencer]

I'd rather talk on a landline phone, just the feel of it. I don't like the rectangular, flat cell phones.

[@Cwgrlup]

Me too.

[@thedopplereffect00]

Use a headset then?

[@L.Spencer]

A headset is not the same feel. I used to use one for teaching. But I could plug a phone into a computer.@@thedopplereffect00

[@davidb2206]

@@thedopplereffect00 No. Headsets remind me of Army days in the helicopter = prolonged discomfort and confinement. I never use headsets.

[@thedopplereffect00]

@@davidb2206 all the earpieces are pretty comfortable to me. They weren't designed by the government.

[@maildeliverysubsystemmaile9178]

This makes ZERO sense. We will regret this. Trust me.

[@BlakeCerenzia]

Phone companies don’t wanna be responsible for maintaining obsolete infrastructure The people who built and can maintain these networks are dead or retired

[@stevegabbert9626]

When a business asks for my phone number, I give them my land line, and leave my cell for personal calls. The land line also handles robo calls. The phone rings, my answering machine takes the call, and then they hang up when I don't talk to them in person.

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

Good ol' POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). Yes, I worked in telecommunications. It operates on its own separate power, which is why it works during a power outage. It is funny how the kids still say, "dialing a number", when they can't recognize a rotary phone (I remember when the phone companies charged extra for touch-tone service).

[@crptnite]

We really need to bring that back. Not that cellphones aren't nice and all, but they cause way more damage than they help, most times, and i would honestly prefer my actual phone to be just an old school landline phone and for my mobile devices to be just mobile devices with the option of having phone service when i'm away from home and need to make or receive calls. Honestly? i tend to leave my cell at home when i go places these days, more often than not, anyhow. If anything, it's just become an addiction to quell the boredom when i'm stuck at home with nothing to do... If i had an actual camera, i honestly would have little to no need for my phone while away from home as it tends to be more of a nuisance. It just sucks when i see things i would like to photograph, but can't because i went "tech free" that trip 😶

[@NinjaHampster117]

Too young to remember the extra charge, but I sure do remember having a rotary phone. Wasn't even fancy, just your classic beige phone that no one can agree on what it's made of.

[@lelandgaunt9985]

I enjoyed when star six nine came out, and you would leave a courteous message on the answering machine stating you had a wrong number. Then the pompous buffoon home owner would immediately call back “did someone call this number?” 🙄

[@JohnPotts-kq7kk]

@@NinjaHampster117 WOW, you were really upscale with a beige phone! Our phone company would have charged extra per month for a color phone so ours was black! Their was no private ownership of phones at that time in our area. I live in a rural area and for many years paid $25 extra per month for private line! The fee was eliminated several years later when system was updated doing away with party lines.

[@snowyowlz5992]

So many memories in this thread. I must be getting old. I remember replacing Crossbar Electromechanical Switching Systems with No. 1 Electronic Switching System, for Central Office Equipment Centers.

[@lolal1026]

Landline was the only one that worked for my 911 call & police to locate me

[@crptnite]

Yeah i feel like losing actual non-electric, non-internet landlines will prove to be a threat to our National Security.

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

@@crptnite POTS landlines are still electric. They just work on their own line power source, and not the power grid.

[@davidb2206]

@@crptnite The terrorists (who are already here) can knock out cell towers easily. Most have zero security around them. There have already been numerous unsolved attacks on power equipment.

[@butterflygirl13]

Does anybody miss calling the time? ahhh those were the days.😊

[@madge2114]

POPCORN

[@marinhusky8863]

At the tone the time will be...

[@dragondancer1814]

My sister and I used to fight over that! And I checked last year out of curiosity-yes, that number still works!

[@lelandgaunt9985]

Oh we oh we oh

[@zone4garlicfarm]

People still use their phones to check the time, just without dialing.

[@seajaries]

I rely on my landline. It's more reliable than my cell, and it's easier for me to hear the other person on the landline. I have a hard time hearing people on a cellphone if there is noise in the background.

[@crptnite]

This!!! i absolutely DETEST talking on a cell phone, and i always have. Personally, it's not even just the difficulty hearing or the awkwardness of it all, i can FEEL the EMF pulses in my brain when one is near my head and i never liked that, it never seemed Right. That's why i'm a notorious speaker-phone user and do not like taking calls in public settings. i wish we could have like a "National No Phone Day" just so everyone can see how much calmer and more peaceful life was before we invented these dumb things.

[@thedopplereffect00]

You don't know about HD voice protocol on cellphones now. The quality is far superior to land lines

[@dfirth224]

Wait until you get fiber optic cable installed. Do you have wired internet service at home or work? It's like going from AM radio to FM radio. Phone calls can be carried on the fiber internet signal. It's the future.

[@dfirth224]

@@crptniteThere is NO EMF with fiber optic cable, it's not copper. It easily carries phone calls along with your internet service.

[@dragondancer1814]

And if you have to call 911, doing so from a landline means that they know exactly where you are! With a cell phone, they have to triangulate your position, and may the gods help you if it pings off the wrong tower. Don’t even get me started on dead zones where you can’t get a cell signal to save your life!

[@EnchantedSmellyWolf]

Got to keep landline immortal. You will never know when cellphones go offline.

[@jddonmoyer2489]

Ah yes because I also keep a horse and buggy and a typewriter

[@DG-nk7jo]

@@jddonmoyer2489HAHAHAHAHA SOOOO FUNNY OMG… Go to sleep Grandma.

[@digitalpacs]

No we don’t. I own Skype and also a cell phone. Don’t need old technology. I bet you still have a vhs recorder…..😂😂😂😂

[@chandlerbing7570]

@@jddonmoyer2489 Shut up bro. you know perfectly well this is different. you're just trying to be edgy

[@jddonmoyer2489]

@@chandlerbing7570 how?

[@kieana5]

13 days later, we are now facing a nationwide cellphone outage amongst three major companies today. Smh...

[@HappyDiscoDeath]

I have a landline (with a couple of old phones) and I won't end service until my provider shuts down their equipment. However, if they switch to fiber, that would be agreeable, as it would be better than no landline.

[@goldenharborstudios7180]

Agree. I'm 16 getting ready to move out, going to hook up my first landline in my first house. Australia is differnt

[@stevevasta]

Although, with fiber lines, it's no longer a true landline. They give you a generator to power the phone in a blackout.

[@lilsheba1]

I collect vintage phones I love them. I miss landline phones.

[@Lazy2332]

There seems to be a lot of confusion in the comments; they are referring to POTS that you would get from a central office like AT&T, for example. They are not talking about any VOIP-based technologies(including DOCSIS).

[@smorris281]

True, Fiber and cable phones are landlines. However, fiber and cable phones like VoIP don’t work well with E911, as your location won’t immediately be known and these landlines will require backup batteries for blackouts.

[@RaymondHng]

@@smorris281 They are actually Voice over IP telephone service. They are not traditional copper wire landline service.

[@dfirth224]

@@smorris281That is easy to update. Cell phone 911 calls used to go to the Highway Patrol. Now they use the cell phones built in GPS to report the location.

[@dfirth224]

@@RaymondHngSo what? Is anyone using the old crank telephones anymore? Technology changes.

[@CaribouEno]

@@dfirth224 I do and it sort of saved me during Hurricane Sandy.

[@smorris281]

It’s going to take a long time for copper landlines to go away in rural areas, because phone companies don’t want to spend the money to install fiber optic lines in less populated places. I use my home phone on a regular basis and if copper landlines go away, it could slow down 911 response. VoIP phones don’t identify your physical location automatically to 911, and fiber optic and cable phones will require batteries if the power goes out.

[@davidb2206]

True. Nobody even has any plans to put fiber optic here.

[@americanbobtail1]

Not necessarily. The reason being is those same people can either use cell phone towers or satellite internet as Starlink. It would be cheaper to have these rural areas to convert to satellite VOIP than maintaining the copper lines.

[@Darci3333]

Though i no longer have a landline there are too many cases where it is still needed for people.

[@tonycollazorappo]

I just transferred mine to VOIP. I've had the same number since the mid to late 60s. I enjoyed my landline, I can't stand cell phones, texting and apps though I do have one to make calls and receive them, ONLY. The VOIP is for my partner who is 82 and cannot see well enough to use a cell phone anymore. My landline was costing me $120 a month! Hence the move to VOIP which is the same price as a cell phone payment, $30 a month.

[@Cwgrlup]

I use my VOIP when I talk to my mom because she can hear my voice on it better. Also it helps when you have bad service sometimes- and there have been times.

[@smorris281]

My Verizon copper line only costs me $31.

[@maildeliverysubsystemmaile9178]

@@smorris281 I’m so jealous. I couldn’t find any company to set mine up. They don’t even offer it.

[@amen_ra6926]

I tried VOIP back in '05 when I dropped landline service. It wasn't that great so I cancelled it after a few weeks. But the service is probably way better now. I just use my cell. . I think I actually call maybe 5 people. Everyone else I text. Easier to end a text conversation. You just stop 😂🤣🤣.

[@markh.6687]

In the US, the old copper cable lines are being replaced with fiber optic cables, so there will still be "landlines", and the old phones will still work with adapters. The Wichita Lineman will still be on the line.

[@evanchapmanfanman]

I’ve got a 1960s rotary phone which still works perfectly, I’m 26 and it’s always funny when one of my buddies can’t figure out how to dial out

[@anb7408]

We still have landlines at our office at work. Impossible to work the complicated, multiline system we have via cell phones.

[@rickchapman9232]

The land line is more secure,it can’t be hacked.

[@Jamie41yukon]

Not really hacked but they can be tapped

[@ethernet01]

i wish my city maintained its payphones this situation reminds me of the pointless incandescent bulb ban

[@davidb2206]

“If you are an AT&T customer and cannot get through to 911, then please try calling from a landline." news today, 2-22-2024

[@jes2276]

Better to keep them around as an option. The AT&T outage this week proves the importance of keeping this option.

[@janaeshepherd5854]

Not to mention, if you dial 911 from a landline, emergency services can locate you. Not so (yet) with cell phones.

[@dragondancer1814]

As a volunteer firefighter/EMT, I can concur about those nightmare calls where we have trouble finding the caller because the cell phone pinged off the wrong tower! Don’t even get me started on dead zones where all you get for a signal is squat squared!

[@joerparzych3153]

I remember using landines, packet pagers , including pay phones many times. I still use landines and pay phones, smart phones. including my family as well.

[@amen_ra6926]

Wow...most pay phones I see have the handsets ripped out. A guy I know commented that anyone using a payphone is probably up to no good 😂🤣😂 since we live in a cell phone world.

[@omarsmusic4316]

I guess I am one of the 26 percent that still has a land line my family doesn't use it much but we have it incase of an emergency or if I want to call a friend and not get a charged by the cell phone company.

[@laural5177]

I live in hurricane country and have lost cellphone coverage when the tower was hit. I keep my landline for that reason, the ability to keep in touch with the outside world. I would hope it would be illegal for the landline to be discontinued not just for me but for our fire fighters and police.

[@grayrabbit2211]

I always did the same... until Hurricane Ian hit. It's been 505 days since the hurricane hit and my landline still doesn't work. Centurylink had no problem trying to bill me for many months while I'm waiting for them to repair service. Now I keep 2 cell phones with different providers.

[@laural5177]

My landline is with AT&T and when I called them about my lose of coverage they gave a 1 month rebate. @@grayrabbit2211

[@laural5177]

I called AT&T to tell them I lost coverage for nearly a day and they gave me a full month credit@@grayrabbit2211

[@laural5177]

My cell, phone is with AT&T. When I called them on my land line and told them I had lost cell service they they waived the entire month's bill. @@grayrabbit2211

[@laural5177]

I was hit by Ian as well. Is you landline VIOP voice over internet protocol meaning it is provided by your cable company? Mine is the old fashion copper wiring to the house with AT&T, It ever goes down.@@grayrabbit2211

[@heroknaderi]

I prefer to keep landlines 📞 it be sad to see it go

[@humblecourageous3919]

We had a landline. But when the neighborhood power went out, our landline went out. Twice. We had backup batteries that kept things on in our house - but no landline. The phone company has to have batteries that will keep the landlines going in a power outage. Some are not continuing with their battery backup. So it had no more use. We converted our longtime landline phone number into a second cell phone. (We live in San Diego County.)

[@Blueeyedsoul1986]

I might get myself a landline phone just in case

[@emilerose1424]

Landlines operating on fiber optics don't work at all when Internet service goes down because phone and internet are all wired together since the replacement of copper wiring with fiber optics (e.g., Verizon). This new deal is highly unsatisfactory and dangerous. People who don't have a cell can't even call 911 if their internet service goes down. This is a dangerous and irresponsible business model.

[@Michael_Livingstone]

I am keeping my landline as my telco is giving it to me for $10/month. I live in an urban area but since it’s Canada, cell service isn’t the greatest and expensive. On a positive note, I do enjoy fibre to the house internet so my landline has an adapter at the fibre box in the basement that allows a regular landline to work. No copper wire/POTS so I guess “under the hood” it’s VOIP.

[@EricBoulton26]

I was forced to transition to a VOIP "landline" a decade ago. I have an APC UPS unit dedicated to the equipment that needs power so it's as much like a traditional landline as possible. My parents still have POTS, but their company doesn't maintain it and there are lots of issues, to the point where they basically don't use it.

[@CaribouEno]

If you have Verizon Fiber/FIOS (not copper distribution in the building but a real fiber optical cable into your house or apartment) they also often work during big power outages, as the "light" is still there. However, the fiber termination device/ONT needs power. AFAIK there is an emergency kit from Verizon which works on D Cell batteries to maintain "landline" phone service in case local power goes out.

[@EricBoulton26]

@@CaribouEno Yep, I have FIOS with fiber optic straight through. I don't know if it was D Cell Batteries, but the condo I was in up until 2017 had a battery backup built into it, and it went bad after just 2 years of me living there. In my place now, I just opted for the regular FIOS equipment and bring my own backup. Service is rock solid though. We have neighborhood wide power outages one or twice a year, and I've never had an issue with my Verizon service.

[@ayerimlopez5982]

We still have landline 😂😂😂 because of my older parent old school

[@ceuser3555]

Fiber optic internet is not available at all areas in the USA.

[@thedopplereffect00]

Yes but they are replacing copper with fiber. Makes zero sense to maintain both systems

[@AustinHollingerOfficial]

@@thedopplereffect00 with the infrastructure bill fiber should be just about anywhere within the next 20 to 30 years just like it was for electricity

[@ceuser3555]

Cellphones have issue with coverage/signal. So many dead spots in the USA.

[@julienunnally8040]

All I gotta say is when Michael Jackson died, God rest his soul, it broke the internet...literally. I could not use my phone to call or text, let alone check Facebook. That got me thinking maybe we ought to hang onto that landline. Ya know, zombie invasion.

[@dragondancer1814]

You should’ve seen the chaos around here when we had an earthquake back in 2011 (western Maryland). Since earthquakes are VERY rare around here, so many people were calling 911 on their cell phones that the towers actually crashed!

[@nicholasrosen6342]

A public landline phone would be helpful particularly at a rest area where someone could be distressed who either lost their phone or locked out of it.

[@Jamie41yukon]

Thats called a payphone but yes that is a good idea

[@3DJapan]

We still have a landline but we rarely answer it because it's almost always junk calls. We just let the voicemail get it and check it once a day or so. Actually I'm not sure if it's even POTS since it's part of our Verizon FiOS.

[@stevepettersen3283]

I'd recommend listing your phone numbers with the National Do Not Call registry. My junk call volume has tanked!

[@GamerplayerWT]

Like the typewriter, landlines are certain to go the same way.

[@crptnite]

That's funny because i hear typewriters are making their comeback: turns out writers prefer having a separate and unconnected machine upon which they can focus solely on writing. Plus we just really love the clickety-clack, ding! 💯👀 i remember begging for my first typewriter and getting it for Christmas when i was idk maybe fifteen. i loved that thing so much! If i still had it today, i may have finished at least one novel by now... Computers tend to distract me 😑

[@geebee2703]

Book authors still use them especially those who want a digital detox

[@jddonmoyer2489]

@@geebee2703the Amish still use the horse and buggy

[@jddonmoyer2489]

@@crptnitethey aren’t you are mis informed

[@Mike1064ab]

That way they can force rural areas to use companies that are more expensive and resort to new technology that way they can control them.

[@davidb2206]

Plus easier to intercept without a wire-tap warrant. We used to pick up cell phone conversations in our Army helicopter at certain altitudes over cities.

[@lcc726]

I still use it. It's very convenient when u have to make another call and ur hold w/the cell. Multi tasking lol good for telemarketing calls too

[@CrowdPleeza]

How do the costs compare between internet connected phones vs contract cellphones?

[@robertdozier9481]

A few years ago, I had a rotary payphone installed in my kitchen... No real reason... I just thought that it would be a conversation starter...

[@FlexibleFlyer50]

I'm happy with my landline phone. Don't have a cellphone, don't need one, and definitely don't want one.

[@gobbletegook]

Hey...NBC. Investigate this fact. One of the reasons that we pay taxes on our phones is to support the wiring in more rural areas. Why are we still forced to pay it then to companies making billions?

[@CrowdPleeza]

This explains how most home phones will start to be connected. Look up: Moving Landline Phones To Digital Technology

[@maildeliverysubsystemmaile9178]

I searched high and low for a traditional landline. But everything depends on internet access. So that’s what I got. But when there’s a power outage, my landline is also down. 😫

[@xcmskim4]

Get a UPS!

[@maildeliverysubsystemmaile9178]

@@xcmskim4 what is that!? Please tell me. I don’t want to rely on electricity for phone.

[@xcmskim4]

@@maildeliverysubsystemmaile9178 Plug your phone modem (cable internet) or ONT (fiber internet) into a UPS. Its a battery backup power system. The most popular brands are made by APC or CyberPower.

[@crptnite]

Actually i would prefer to live in an area where i can get an old-school landline in my home which is not dependent on any Internet or Electricity, just like it used to be. My mom recently switched back to AT&T, formerly Southern Bell, for landline phone service and they've changed the entire way that works. So now, my mom's phone plugs into her modem and if the power/Internet goes out, she still has no phone. They used to be the literal phone company, and that's all they did was landline phone service. Apparently you cannot get that kind of simplistic security anymore here in America, and i believe that is a Travesty.

[@thedopplereffect00]

Why don't you just get a battery for the modem then? The telephone company isn't a power utility.

[@RaymondHng]

​@@thedopplereffect00 Battery backups or uninterruptible power supplies are available for routers, modems, etc. The telephone company, in fact, supplies 48 volts of power over traditional land lines. It sends 90 volts of ringing voltage as well.

[@maildeliverysubsystemmaile9178]

@crptnite I agree 100%.

[@juswavvy9634]

My grandma kept a landline phone up until 2012 when she got her first touch screen she didn't want the land line no More

[@jessekauffman3336]

Haven’t had a LAND LINE IN FOREVER.

[@user-xr8fk7sq4c]

What about restaurants? restaurants have landlines.

[@Richardpasquinucci]

what are businesses going to use? They need wired line phones. You can't have a PBX on a cell phone

[@timothystockman7533]

Verizon has not installed copper here for 10 years. If you order POTS, they will put in FiOS and connect you to the RJ11 on the Optical Network Terminal. A few months ago the gardener cut the fiber while trimming bushes at the house. When the repair guy came he took out all the old copper drop cables when he replaced the fiber.

[@stevepettersen3283]

He's probably got a pile of it at home, planning on taking it to the scrap yard for some cash!

[@eattherich9215]

I still have a landline and will keep it for as long as I can.

[@albertPI007]

We have no landline phone in our house anymore. So much money on our bills when we already have cellphones.

[@geebee2703]

I'm from Nigeria & landlines have been completely discontinued here

[@zone4garlicfarm]

Will Bryant Pond be the last place to have land line phones? It would be a nice follow up to being the last place with crank phones.

[@bethclark9319]

I still have a landline and I remember calling for the weather and time. Those were the days.........

[@ejonesss]

i think the real reason that phone co are ditching lan lines is because they dont want to upgrade even when biden passed the infrastructure improvement bill that provided funding for phone line upgrades and there is an ultimatum "if you dont upgrade then you need to tear out the lines you can not just let them dilapidate away". that is like a township saying if you dont repair your house it will be ordered demolished. if the phone infrastructure in one location is allowed to dilapidate away then it could be a technical threat and could effect other systems in other places. examples in point i saw a video where a 2018 dodge ram truck deluxe model with back up radar would not start and the radio would not even work and was throwing up many errors and it turned out that water got in the tail brake light housing and corroded the connector for the communications bus and as soon as the light was disconnected then the truck started up and the radio played ok and the error codes was reduced to faulty brake light witch contained the back up radar module. a couple years ago when we was in the height of the covid diy cable modem installation movement a couple houses on a separate street on the opposite end of town had left the lines open to ingress and i had bad internet service even to the point of the cable modem rebooting constantly. so in theory leaving systems in disrepair could cause interference to cascade up the line and disrupt services even in other towns that may be fed from the same node.

[@dudeabides1532]

I hear Costco has the best deal on rotisserie phones 😂😂😂

[@claytonhoskinson2000]

I have a VoIP home phone as a real landline isn’t available… I do have a way to power it in an outage too

[@metricmine]

It isn't profitable for phone companies to keep traditional landlines in service. Too many people have cancelled their service since they no longer use it much and use cell phones instead. With fewer people using it, the cost of maintaining the infrastructure becomes more than the revenue from the remaining users. One company in my country switched people to fixed wireless, where the phone is the same landline phone, but it's plugged into a box that connects to the mobile network. Basically a cell phone fixed to the desk, with the same unreliability you would expect from the mobile network, and goes dead when the power goes out.

[@alternateanalysis2034]

I am finding out more about this fixed wireless thing. More cell tower radiation cannot be a good thing.

[@chcknmr]

There is no need to get rid of a landline and I’m still very VERY disappointed my parents got rid of ours.

[@VectraQS]

I recently signed up for landline service, the guy on the other end couldn't believe it. It operates over VoIP, though.

[@lindamaclaren1866]

Save the landline!

[@amen_ra6926]

Oh and how about those days you had to wait until after 11:00 weeknights to call long distance because that's when the rates went down? I think they also went down 7:00am Sat to 7:00pm Sunday.

[@maclura]

i live over 160 miles from the city, the nearest cell tower is 2 counties away, we depend on landlines. basically 0 reception on cellphones out here.

[@Jamie41yukon]

should buy a satellite phone bc landlines arent gonna be on if your exchange office gets damaged 🤡 or if a line goes down🤡🤡🤡

[@maclura]

@@Jamie41yukon if a solar flare hits the satellites won't even function anymore 🤡and the solar maximum is going to peak next year honestly can't wait there's a decent chance the net will be gone and trolls like you will just sit in the dark i guess?

[@maclura]

we're going into a solar maximum next year, satellite's may even fry if a big flare hits, honestly i have my fingers crossed, imagine all the trolls that'll finally touch grass when the internet doesn't work anymore.

[@Jamie41yukon]

@@maclura true

[@FirstLastOne]

99% of you on here are completely ignorant to what a landline truly is because you don't understand or care to understand the technology. 80% of you completely tuned out to the explanation of what a landline is during this VERY short three minute video. If you think that all phones sitting on a counter, table or desk are landlines because they have a cable or are plugged into the wall, guess again. A landline is a telephone line service running over dedicated copper cables and is referred to as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). You might still be using your old house (landline) phones throughout your home but now you are connected via the internet using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) so what you have is NOT a landline. Your VoIP line requires an internet connection and if the power goes out and you don't have a UPS for your router, ONT (if using a fibre connection) and phones, NO SERVICE FOR YOU!

[@sci-fi.tsunami]

Yup! But I still call it a "landline" because I can't receive text messages on it. Everybody constantly wants to send me text messages & I tell them I have a landline to shut them up.

[@davidb2206]

Nope. I have a copper wire. All the way to the legacy junction boxes in the neighborhood and out of town. I have a landline. Not a VoIP.

[@robertriley1569]

@@davidb2206 I have copper wire traditional lines as well. My old cordless phones and my ITT 2500 have better reception than my ridiculously over priced smart phone. I would never give up my landline.

[@chrisbullard5901]

I had a landline just recently for this reason. I worked in cellular telecom, seeing first hand how data centers and cell towers worked in disaster situations. Now, we do have COWs (Cellular on Wheels), and for disaster recovery, there is WinLink (Email via HAM radio). Fiberoptics to form the backbone makes a lot of sense as a defense against EMPs, and the old POTS local exchanges are vulnerable in other ways (I was a Silicon Valley kid during the ‘89 San Francisco Quake, and remember the phone system being overburdened on the local exchanges, with only long-distance calls getting through). What we effectively need is a hand-crank powered portable phone that can plug into the fiber backbone connecting local and regional data centers, or convince enough Americans to buy a prepaid satellite phone and keep it protected in a Faraday cage.

[@EBikes420]

I have a landline only because it's 10$ on my cable bill, but I never use it and I mainly get scam calls on them. So I pretty much never answer it when it rings.

[@-in-the-meantime...]

Few years back we dumped cellular (except for emergency etc) and went full landline. It was an incredibly peaceful time, and weened us off social medias. ymmv

[@frankcoffey]

It's time. I built my home in 2018 and it doesn't even have phone jacks or cable TV outlets for that matter. They gave me 5 Ethernet drops and I got to choose what rooms it went in. It's going to get to the place where you have to patch up all the walls where phone jacks were to make the house seem "modern" when you sell it.

[@papagen00]

i remember calling nyc on 9-11-2001. ALL cellular lines were busy or down.

[@andreward8268]

So was the landlines... I couldn't reach my family in NYC from MD (landline to landline)

[@papagen00]

@@andreward8268 I doubt it, they probably had a VoiP line which looks like a landline but it's not.

[@beachlifestyle]

You can still use your old phone with a dial tone when you pick up the receiver but the signal will be VOIP.

[@zAlaska]

It all started when Dial came to town and they replaced the time and temperature girls with 16 RPM phonograph records. Replacing Sarah at the switchboard, dialing zero they promised you could always get ahold of Ernestine by pressing zero, now a computer asks person to person or collect. And the yellow wall phone on my aunt's house, though they changed the area code, a number I still remember, is no longer in service as she passed away too early at 94 years after 76 years of marriage Where I live, the phone circuits are all favorite Optics and when the power goes out so do the phones faster than the cell phone which does whatever it does for a little while. We haven't had telephone service since they got rid of the step and switch, replacing relays with transistors and ISP. Unlike payphones, random people use telephones which makes it slightly less traceable and requires a search warrant for a wire tap which is all digital anyway. All the promises that came with the first telephone call Mom like constitutional rights, no longer apply

[@miguelhamrol6567]

My landline comes through fiber, together with cable TV and wi-fi. It would be difficult to disconnect just the phone service, since it comes through the same fiber wire with cable TV and wi-fi.

[@jackson5116]

Technically, landlines are already dead, they use VOIP now.

[@syscrashwashere]

When I was a kid we had a party line and we loved it... well... maybe not loved...

[@snowyowlz5992]

Some businesses still “require” landlines.

[@TigerDominic-uh1dv]

You Don't need a Cell Phone in Your Ear All Day

[@benjaminmendenhall4497]

I still have a landline and my mom still has one too and I don’t even use it at all

[@helenaasousa]

this is bologna! i want my ☎️

[@tooge47]

in rural Mississippi, AT&T will no longer BRING you a landline !!!!!

[@TomIannucci22]

That's all we use at my work.

[@mistervacation23]

They called didnt say anything, then heard sounds of a pipe striking an object, “A woman screams” more blows, “a woman screams again” then silence. Then sounds of someone going down stairs. Then a man hollers real loud "Mark Hansen". After that sounds like someone digging. Then a man said does the name Hernandez mean anything to you? Then something was banging, and the connection was lost or they hung up. This was very odd.

[@writerconsidered]

What about businesses and companies with landlines?

[@freemagicfun]

Landline? I have not had a landline in 15 years. Ten years ago my satellite service required me to get their "landline" as part of the package deal... which was just a cell phone ha ha 😎

[@ps3guy22]

Yay, more fiber!(I hear it's good for your diet)

[@jeffs6090]

I have a land line still. Mainly, it comes with my Xfinity triple play package. Yes, I never cut that cord either, and with all the rate hikes with all the streamers, I'm glad I stayed put. My cost analysis a couple of years ago only had a savings of about $40 a month. Now, it's the same. But back to the land line....I like having it because that's the number I give out to all the businesses. I don't want them constantly calling my cell phone with their nonsense.