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Premium
join:2006-08-11
Paron, AR | Well... Either ways it goes if landline service companies were not 20 years in the past I think people would have more landlines. Considering they offer absolutely nothing but overpriced telephone service here.
No DSL no U Verse nothing... | |
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Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN
| Re: Well... said by screavic  :Either ways it goes if landline service companies were not 20 years in the past I think people would have more landlines. Considering they offer absolutely nothing but overpriced telephone service here. No DSL no U Verse nothing... Overpriced? You can get a landline for around $20/month. What's your cellphone bill? | |
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screavic
Premium
join:2006-08-11
Paron, AR | Re: Well... $80 / month for my landline with long distance or $50 without long distance.
Our cell phone bill with text messaging and internet (cause no DSL) is about $80-100 | |
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Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN | Re: Well... So your cell is more.
Either way you need to shop around. You're paying way too much! | |
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screavic
Premium
join:2006-08-11
Paron, AR
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
·Alltel Axess
| Re: Well... Our cell phone bill is for 2 cell phones and internet
I can't shop around on landline service cause AT&T is the only provider out here. Either way it goes we are just shutting down our landline service soon cause it's just not worth it.
I don't know if it's just Arkansas in general but all our cell phone and landline services seem high on all carriers. | |
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Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN | Re: Well... Yeah ditch that landline. Why have both? You could put the money towards better things. | |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Time to get a cell phone, and possibly Skype or another VoIP for outgoing house calls.
I pay $3/month for unlimited outbound calls on Skype... and I can put it on my cellphone and use it with WiFi when I'm out of the county in Canada. | |
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C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium
join:2001-10-03
Davenport, FL
 ·Verizon FIOS
| said by Chuckles :So your cell is more. Either way you need to shop around. You're paying way too much! There is no such thing as "shopping around" for a landline though. You either get whoever is contracted to service your location, or you get nothing.
And up until Verizon started doing "bundle" specials here, just having the landline was another $40/month (with all the un-fees and BS) just to have a functional landline (which wasn't entirely, due to the fact that everything we'd want to call within a mile is a separate area code, and thus long distance  ). It was only as their trucks began laying down the infrastructure that allowed us to finally upgrade to FiOS that we started seeing more "common sense" options for a landline, such as being able to have unlimited calls to anywhere in the US and Puerto Rico off of it. VoIP was an option considered as well, but Bright House at least in this local bit of land is notorious for lousy service, and about the only part of the company that will work regardless of everything else getting SNAFU or FUBAR... is (you guessed it) billing. 
As it is now, I'm currently paying about $67 after all told for a family share plan with two lines. I was looking into getting an iPhone when the contract ends (because then I could pay for AppleCare ONCE and be covered, instead of paying some BS insurance fee every month on contract); problem is, to even have one adds another $30 a month to get the iPhone-specific data plan. Granted, I would be whoring the hell out of the data plan for sure, but that's certainly not an expense I can justify in the foreseeable moment. Maybe if things go well and I can get employed in my field of study, things will look more favorably to that... | |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| said by screavic :$80 / month for my landline with long distance or $50 without long distance. Our cell phone bill with text messaging and internet (cause no DSL) is about $80-100 Have you tried dropping called ID, voice mail, call waiting, callback, etc? My fiancee and I pay something like $20/mo for our landline. | |
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screavic
Premium
join:2006-08-11
Paron, AR | Re: Well... To get that really good price your talking about here is to drop it to "limited minutes" package.
I wish it was $20 for basic phone unlimited usage cause we would probably keep it for emergencies. | |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| Re: Well... said by screavic :To get that really good price your talking about here is to drop it to "limited minutes" package. I wish it was $20 for basic phone unlimited usage cause we would probably keep it for emergencies. We don't have any long distance plan, it's free on our wireless phones. The landline is a communication line when wireless service is unavailable or when the power goes out and the cell phones are dead. I don't need long distance in that case, and if I did then the $0.50 a minute is just fine for a 2 minute call to let whomever I must call to let them know I'm okay.
Really, this isn't a big deal. | |
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screavic
Premium
join:2006-08-11
Paron, AR
·Verizon Wireless B..
·Alltel Axess
| Re: Well... It wasn't a big deal when I spoke about it.
I'm dropping the landline because I believe it's overpriced for the services provided. By the way everyone else speaks it just makes me not want it more if they can get basic landline service for $20 a month for unlimited local calling. | |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| Re: Well... said by screavic :It wasn't a big deal when I spoke about it. I'm dropping the landline because I believe it's overpriced for the services provided. By the way everyone else speaks it just makes me not want it more if they can get basic landline service for $20 a month for unlimited local calling. You can get it too, you just haven't asked. You probably have a landline with all of the absurd features and haven't bothered to try and drop them.
I have AT&T too, so don't tell me they don't offer basic POTS. | |
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screavic
Premium
join:2006-08-11
Paron, AR
·Verizon Wireless B..
·Alltel Axess
| Re: Well... I have talked to AT&T about it and everytime I have tried they always tell me $30. I'm talking after taxes and everything too, I don't know if you all are talking about before taxes. My uncle had POTS Limited before he passed away and his bill was $20 after taxes but he could only use the phone so much per month and had unlimited 911 calling. | |
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NY Tel
Premium
join:2004-04-09
Smithtown, NY
 ·VOIPo
| said by yock :said by screavic :$80 / month for my landline with long distance or $50 without long distance. Our cell phone bill with text messaging and internet (cause no DSL) is about $80-100 Have you tried dropping called ID, voice mail, call waiting, callback, etc? My fiancee and I pay something like $20/mo for our landline. In NY, after dropping everything, a POTS line still costs between 25 and 30 dollars a month. | |
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| said by NY Tel :said by yock :said by screavic :$80 / month for my landline with long distance or $50 without long distance. Our cell phone bill with text messaging and internet (cause no DSL) is about $80-100 Have you tried dropping called ID, voice mail, call waiting, callback, etc? My fiancee and I pay something like $20/mo for our landline. In NY, after dropping everything, a POTS line still costs between 25 and 30 dollars a month. That's New York, not Arkansas, and that's still much better than the $50 the OP cited. | |
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NY Tel
Premium
join:2004-04-09
Smithtown, NY
·VOIPo
| Re: Well... said by yock :That's New York, not Arkansas, and that's still much better than the $50 the OP cited. Yes I agree, my point is that there is a BIG price difference in POTS charges from State to State which is why some people are doing the voip thing or cell only.
I have a POTS line but can't remember the last time I made or received a call on it.
Monthly total for me is:
Voice Services $28.20
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Matt
Gone playing Dragon Age Origins
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC |  Cell Only for Years
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Cjaiceman
Premium,MVM
join:2004-10-12
Parker, CO | Re: Cell Only for Years Same, been cellphone only since late 2004. I just haven't seen the need for a land-line any more. | |
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nipseyrussel
Nipsey Russell, yo
join:2002-02-22
Philadelphia, PA
| said by Matt :I only know one person who still has a POTS line actually ... and they are in their 60's and 70's. split personalities are a b;tch | |
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Matt
Gone playing Dragon Age Origins
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
| Re: Cell Only for Years said by nipseyrussel :said by Matt :I only know one person who still has a POTS line actually ... and they are in their 60's and 70's. split personalities are a b;tch LOL. I meant one household. Not sure why I typed one "person." Nice catch.  | |
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The Way Out
join:2003-01-20 | California... ...is a big state and is by and large rural. There are a few large urban centers vastly swamped by rural areas. | |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: California... Yeah - some areas are poor.
I have an AT&T cell site 1/2 mile from me (fairly flat) and I've done 2 hour conf calls.
Lately, I've been having issues with Sprint 'Network signal faded' messages, and its site is ~ 1 block from me. | |
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Gilitar
join:2000-11-20
Mobile, AL | The map tells the story Look at the map... It's obvious Verizon is doing much better at keeping landline business versus AT&T. | |
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SHARPSHARK
join:2002-05-10 | Re: I hate cell phones ... and it might not be good for the bees too. : | |
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Voyager2K2
join:2001-10-04
Wayne, PA
1 edit | No duplex audio.
I hate cell phones as well.
I have a crackberry from Sprint. TV's kinda cool. One way at a time phone audio sucks.
POT (VIA FIOS ) still rules for me. | |
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gigahurtz
Premium
join:2001-10-20
Palm Coast, FL
clubs: | I would but... I would love to go cell only but the problem is my alarm monitoring. If there was a way around this I would do it in a heartbeat. | |
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herdfan
Premium
join:2003-01-25
Hurricane, WV | Re: I would but... There ARE solutions for both cell and IP, but I personally don't think they are ready for prime time. As a back up, maybe, but for primary notification, no way. | |
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Tziz
@dsli.com | My house has a wireless transponder to notify the alarm company. when we cut the cord in ~2000, there was no interruption. | |
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Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN
| Speaking of cellphones. A law should be past where businesses can tell customers they will not help them while they're driving while speaking on their cellphones.
I talked to a customer the other day who mentioned they were driving while we spoke. She took down her account number from me which meant she was driving, on the phone and using pen and paper. She then wanted to be transfered to an automated menu system to make a payment which requires her to key in her account number, amount to pay and credit card number. Imagine if she had kids in the car and was smoking!  | |
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MrMaster
What If
Premium
join:2000-12-16
Austin, TX
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Speaking of cellphones. said by Chuckles :A law should be past where businesses can tell customers they will not help them while they're driving while speaking on their cellphones. I talked to a customer the other day who mentioned they were driving while we spoke. She took down her account number from me which meant she was driving, on the phone and using pen and paper. She then wanted to be transfered to an automated menu system to make a payment which requires her to key in her account number, amount to pay and credit card number. Imagine if she had kids in the car and was smoking! Or she was sitting in gridlock traffic. | |
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KSUJace
Golden Flash
join:2001-12-01
Chicago, IL | what's a landline? I've never had one | |
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brianstretch
join:2001-12-31
Ann Arbor, MI
| Me too, and my parents as well I went cell phone only a few years ago. I added a second phone to my plan to give to Mom just before my parents made a cross-country trip. Shortly after that my Dad, the classic "what do I need a cell phone for?", decided that he wanted one too and there wasn't much point in paying AT&T for a landline after that. Family plans are very efficient if you can use them for parts of your extended family too.
I would like to get a femtocell like Sprint's Airave, just because, but I'm still using Nextel phones that aren't supported and Sprint is taking their sweet time coming out with an Android phone I want.
I have been meaning to set up an Asterisk VoIP server, mostly for a new toy to play with, got to get to that some day. | |
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corinthos
join:2007-10-09 | extra fees Mine was low like 12 a month but after added tons of random fees and charges it was like 26. Not worth keeping for that. | |
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Ibexx
join:2008-12-12
Severn, MD
| Re: extra fees I love the freedom my cell phone gives me. I don't have to worry about missing an important call when I'm out at the store, I can check my voicemail remotely and I don't have to worry about a long distance bill when I am calling my boyfriend when he is away at college.
I haven't had a landline phone since I moved out of my parents' house in 2003.I currently live in a rental house with three other people. We do not have landline service to our house, and all of us use our cell phones exclusively. | |
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Madness
A flea circus at a dog show.
join:2000-01-05
Quincy, MA
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: extra fees I'm no big fan of cellphones. Listening to people blabbing on them in public -- like there's no tomorrow -- is enough of a turnoff for me. Yet, I have a cheap PAYG.
When I thought of killing a landline, Verizon convinced me to stay on by giving me the $19.99/$29.99 (6/6 months) plan for both the line & DSL. Yet, my bill has been like 10 & some change for the past seven months -- they keep giving me a big discount -- including DSL.
My line has flat-rate local, no-monthly-fee long-distance & no custom calling features.
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No keyboard present or keyboard error. Press <F1> to continue.... | |
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IowaStudent
Premium
join:2008-08-21
Grinnell, IA | Re: extra fees Went cell only at the end of last year, My parents got sick of paying Iowatelecrap $70 a month for Internet(384k DSL) and basic telephone service
Yes, 384 kb per second in 2009! | |
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See 7 replies to this post |
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ebubman
join:2002-01-17
Enola, PA
·Comcast
·Vonage
| landlines have no value we terminated our vzon landline 7 years ago in favor of gsm cell only since then. sole reason for having a landline @ that point was simply that we had always had a landline. sole regret was that we had not done it sooner. vzon & other telcos act as if landlines are an absolute necessity; in reality, the traditional telcos are running around rearranging chairs on the deck of the titanic. there's really not a tremendous future in it. | |
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fatmanskinny
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Wandering
·Comcast Digital Vo..
·Comcast
1 edit | Re: landlines have no value said by ebubman :in reality, the traditional telcos are running around rearranging chairs on the deck of the titanic. there's really not a tremendous future in it. Man, I could not have said it better myself! When you see reports that Comcast is the THIRD biggest phone provider and growing, you know that the telcos are shaking in their boots while burying their heads in the sand.
Instead of the telcos rolling out serious cable competition (like Verizon's FIOS service), they do stupid sh*t like Re-Verse from AT&T.
Oh well, Comcast is going to be in the phone business for a long time. I see them evolving way beyond the current offerings and stepping into wireless phone service.
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Satan is always busy. He makes bad things look good and good things look bad! Watch that Devil. | |
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fiber_man
Things Happen For A Reason
Premium
join:2001-01-27
Port Saint Lucie, FL
·AT&T U-Verse
| Hurricanes Down here most cell towers were useless during the storms. My landline never failed during all of the storms of the past 6 years. Once they got the generators running at the towers to power them up the cell started to work again but was iffy as to where you were. If you were driving and switched towers you easily dropped calls. The wireless carriers are trying to improve on this problem every year as is has gotten better. FYI all cell towers are connected to the landline network via fiber or copper.
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Voyager2K2
join:2001-10-04
Wayne, PA
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Hurricanes I was at my parent's house cleaning up after Frances in 2004 then Jeannne hit dead center @ Vero Beach. Cell service never went down both times, every singe wire on the poles were destroyed. It looked like a bomb hit the area.
YMMV but just reporting what happened. Jeanne was no joke BTW. | |
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fiber_man
Things Happen For A Reason
Premium
join:2001-01-27
Port Saint Lucie, FL
·AT&T U-Verse
| Re: Hurricanes No kidding three weeks after Frances we were still working on that mess and to have Jeanne hit just made it worst. Tons of OT for over a year. Jensen Beach was without lineline service for about five weeks. Boat anchor went through the duct run at the Jensen Beach causeway. I could tell you all kinds of stories about those two storms. What people could see on the ground is only part of it.
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datguy7
@verizon.net | tax them equally Wait until they tax comcast the way they tax the telco's... then you will be screaming its not really a phone service | |
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John Keels
@bellsouth.net
| Wireless I have been a wireless only phone user for a long time. I even had a landline again for a while a year or so ago but no one ever called me on it anyway. LOL SO, I killed it and went back to wireless. Actually, I do have dry line DSL from AT&T at 3mpbs. The two services provide what I need at a reasonable cost. Cable is faster but less reliable and I rarely watch TV anyway. | |
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TheMG
join:2007-09-04
Edmonton, AB | No landline but no cell. We ditched our landline for phone service from our cable provider (Shaw).
I still do not own a cell phone though, and as of today still have no intention of getting one. | |
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bgraham
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY
·Verizon FIOS
2 edits | Not switching to wireless yet. Cell phone around here is "not ready for prime time" Far too many gaps including parts of our town. I have only tried TMobile and Verizon, but my neighbor has ATT and that's not much better. Conversations on cell phones are often full of missed words and disconects. I get 1 or 2 bars with TMobile and Virgin upstairs in my house and no bars in my basement office.
Went VOIP 3 years ago and use pay as you go for cell. Total cost $45 for FIOS, $18 x 2 for VOIP and $10 X 2 for PAYG cell phones, total cost $101. My 2 old pots lines used to cost $120 without any internet. | |
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richlil
join:2002-01-10
Seattle, WA
·Qwest.net
| Seattle Earthquake - 2001 I don't have a POTS line anymore... only a cell phone and VOIP with T-Mobile. After the Nisqually earthquake here in Seattle in 2001, cell service with AT&T didn't work for several days afterward. POTS worked - at least for local service, although long distance was knocked out for several hours afterward with jammed circuits. I wonder if the same strain were to happen today on the cell phone system if service would stay on or come back any sooner than a few days? | |
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| Ulmo
join:2005-09-22
San Jose, CA
·Comcast
·SONIC.NET
| Re: Seattle Earthquake - 2001 In 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the cell phones didn't work for California's OES (Office of Emergency Services, which I think recently got merged with some Office of Homeland Security or something like that).
I don't think there's been a viable test of cell phones in emergencies since, so we can assume they won't work, unless competent design and testing to the contrary has been performed. | |
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Users Increasingly Going Cell Only
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