Death knell for landlines - RANT

[ultrarunner]

That's because Broadband isn't regulated in any way. Phone service is.

Yes... so how can the phone companies give up copper in areas where there is no alternative?

 

[jlgurr]

No cell service here...

My reason too. As soon as that new tower comes online it's "Buh-bye Bellsouth!"

post_userid

 

[Ford850]

They were assisting the poor with land lines long before cell phones. 1984, to be exact. It's called the Lifeline program. Read about it here...

https://www.fcc.gov/general/lifeline-program-low-income-consumers

And debunk the myth here....

Free 'ObamaPhones' for Welfare Recipients : snopes.com

Everyone seems to forget that it started in 1984. Cell phones are cheaper to pay for than land lines. The only reason it seems extravagant is that when those of us 40 and over were growing up, telephones were expensive. Long distance was a luxury. If grandma called at the holidays you had to say "I love you grandma, Merry Christmas!" as fast as you could and hand the phone back to your parents because it cost so much. And when cell phones first arrived, they were extremely expensive. As has been discussed in this entire thread, cell phones are now much cheaper and way more economical than land lines.

So which one would you rather have the government doing; Land line assistance for the poor or cell phone assistance for the poor?

Let me guess... neither, right?

The big difference was the original program was for a phone line per household. The 'O-Phone' was a phone and minutes per voter.

 

[dfkrug]

That's not a FAX, that's an email. Some government agencies and financial institutions still require an actual FAX. I had to send one this year.... one. :laughing:

Wow, I have not heard of that. I have not sent or received a conventional FAX in more than 10y, even with one real estate transaction (all email). I can see some gummint dept. with such demands (I have to use printed and mailed letters witha stamp for the IRS!), but not financial institutions.

I love email...I send and receive docs and pix all the time, and I get multi-year records stored on the cloud, automatically.Searchable, too. No SMS texts for me either.

As for Verizon landlines, I have one, but it will soon be acquired by Frontier, as they are in many parts of the US. Cell service is weak here, and data costs for internet are MUCH higher than DSL.
Satellite or Super-WiFi, even more expensive.

 

[Ford850]

Wow, I have not heard of that. I have not sent or received a conventional FAX in more than 10y, even with one real estate transaction (all email). I can see some gummint dept. with such demands (I have to use printed and mailed letters witha stamp for the IRS!), but not financial institutions.

I love email...I send and receive docs and pix all the time, and I get multi-year records stored on the cloud, automatically.Searchable, too. No SMS texts for me either.

As for Verizon landlines, I have one, but it will soon be acquired by Frontier, as they are in many parts of the US. Cell service is weak here, and data costs for internet are MUCH higher than DSL.
Satellite or Super-WiFi, even more expensive.

Emails are not secure, and attachments are more prone to hacking. PDFs are the latest trend. Many companies who deal with secure documents have moved back to faxes since they are secure.

 

[ultrarunner]

I just had to exchange information with the County Assessor...

Three options.

Come in person

Send by mail

Fax

 

[Industrial Toys]

Funny, because Revcan is the same way. Fax, but no E-Mail, yet they will never send you a fax.

Just cancelled my fax (indentacall) line after twenty years! If I need to fax, I just plug one in temporarily.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I keep landline for 2 reasons, 911 and to call my Dad. He is hard of hearing, and can understand me better on the wired phone than on my cell phone.

 

[3930dave]

Emails are not secure, and attachments are more prone to hacking. PDFs are the latest trend. Many companies who deal with secure documents have moved back to faxes since they are secure.

Security is relative. Physical access is required (that alone, today, is notable), but faxes are still hackable.

A customer of mine years back produced high-end encryption modules for fax machines. One day I asked how sales were going - turns out, a Canadian mining company was ordering oodles of them that week.

The week before, the mining company had installed the first remote one in their office in a South American country - it was plugged into their fax machine late one evening - 8am the next morning, a senior tech (from the govt phone company) was on their doorstep "To fix problems with the phone line".

Rgds, D.

 

[Looking4new]

Telus is supposed to be bringing out new data packages soon, when that happens I am going to take a serious look at dropping Bell Canada and going all cell phone. I already have an account with Telus for my mobile internet.