The decline of the landline

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14213965&subjectID=894408&fsrc=nwl

by pj • 17 years ago

19 21 17 years ago

tocomment• 17 years ago

I was about there get a landline because my iPhone keeps cutting out in my basement/home office. Does anyone have a better alternative?

Is it worth calling ATT?

I'm tempted to just get an Android phone?

kylec• 17 years ago

You might want to wait for AT&T's MicroCell:

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/tag/att+microcell/

ajb• 17 years ago

Those need a landline (or cable) to work.

riffic• 17 years ago

an android phone is probably not going to fix your cellular signal (in a basement.)

if you have a reliable internet connection, voip is probably what you're interested in.

rufo• 17 years ago

You can hold out for an AT&T microcell - basically an IP to GSM converter: http://www.engadgetmobile.com/tag/microcell/

Alternately, you can switch your calls to Google Voice or another call-routing service and pick up your calls via Skype/Gizmo - if you don't want to give people the new number, you could consider just using call forwarding. Or just cut out Google Voice altogether and get a Skype subscription.

blhack• 17 years ago

Either enjoy your peacful basement, or get skype.

(I got skype).

idlewords• 17 years ago

Ask Mom if you can come upstairs and use hers.

DenisM• 17 years ago

Google for "gsm repreater". E.g. http://salestores.com/digita18.html

NickM• 17 years ago

When it comes to quality, landlines beat just about every other telephony solution in every way. Everything from latency, to audio quality, to reliability. They're also quite cheap compared to cell phone service (in the US, anyway).

Maybe some people just don't care and would rather have one phone they use for everything, but I don't plan on dropping my landline any time soon.

timmaah• 17 years ago

Mine (in the US) was filled with noise. (never got over 26k using a 56k modem) I still had to pay per minute for local calls, there is all kinds of crazy fees and extra charges and I barely ever use it. I'm way too far for DSL and forget fiber or anything else wired.

I'm not much of a talker, nor liked to be tied to a device, but when the GF wanted a cell phone, it was a no brainer to add another line for $10 a month and ditch the landline. (Not to mention the landline company is in pretty big trouble http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:FRP )

mhb• 17 years ago

Absolutely. I don't understand whether the cell phone aficionados don't perceive the difference or are just willing to put up with it.

My experience on the relative cost is different though. My cell phone costs $25/month and landline around $50.

teej• 17 years ago

This probably varies by region, but in Maryland the unlimited nationwide calling plan offered by Verizon for a landline and Cricket for a cellphone is the same price - $40/month.

icefox• 17 years ago

Cheap?!? I don't think I ever had a landline that was less then $50 a month in the U.S. Sure you might be on the $29 plan but there is another $14 from a dozen taxes and another $8 of this months pick of "charges" by the phone company. Price was actually the reason to move to a cell phone. And with the ability to get pay as you go phones you can actually put a hard budget of $X a month to phone without needing to have a +-$5 fudge every month for changes in policy and company charges and taxes.

jonsteinberg• 17 years ago

The only strong case I see is if you have a small child in the house. We have a 6 month old...and having a landline seemed like a small price for additional security and connectivity if I need immediate access - dont want to boot skype or pray for an AT&T cell signal as I run around my apartment in a crisis

Hoff• 17 years ago

Even in the best of emergency medical response systems, response delays can arise. If you are not already medically trained, consider attending an emergency medical technician class or the local equivalent; the better to attend to your young charge.

sfphotoarts• 17 years ago

I don't get all these problems everyone seems to have with AT&T. I have a blackberry bold and it works just fine, I am hardly ever in an area where there's not coverage and I hardly ever get dropped calls. Maybe its the blackberry, or maybe its because I live in a city, but i haven't used a landline for years. I've not worked at a company that has them for years either. like public callboxes, they are a relic of the past.

jff• 17 years ago

I have always had exceedingly good coverage with AT&T, in San Francisco, in Rochester NY, and all along the country in between. I can't think of the last time I didn't have service, except for when I'm in a basement or deep within a thick-walled building.

It's pretty damn good.

MikeCapone• 17 years ago

I have dry-loop DSL and a VOIP phone line. I guess that's a landline, though not a traditional one (way too expensive for what it offers).

senthil_rajasek• 17 years ago

"India has an elegant reverse-auction scheme, under which the supplier who asks for least cash to supply a particular area wins the contract."

Did anyone get this sentence ?

chaosmachine• 17 years ago

Lowest bid wins the contract. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_auction

Mz• 17 years ago

I don't spend much time on the phone and I recently dropped my own landline to save a few bucks. I bought a Tracfone last Christmas. After some discount I had, it was about $145 for 14 months prepaid -- including phone, minutes, and double minutes for life. As long as I don't go over about an hour of calls a month (and so far I'm doing even less than that), it will work out to just over $10/mo for the first 14 months. My landline was around $50/mo. I kept the landline as long as I did in part for a reason I don't seem to see mentioned here: If there is a natural disaster and power is out and you need to call emergency services, you can pick up your landline and it will work. Of course, this assumes you have an old fashioned phone hooked up to your landline and not one of those newfangled wireless phones. Those require electricity to work.

The next time I buy minutes for my Tracfone, I plan to get another $100 card good for another year. So next year, my "monthly" (average) phone bill will be even less than it is now, assuming of course I continue to use the phone very sparingly.

The decline of the landline

Related Stories