CDC: Nearly half of American homes no longer have landlines

[MULTIZ321]

CDC: Nearly half of American homes no longer have landlines




http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/01/cdc-nearly-half-of-american-homes-no-longer-have-landlines/


Richard

 

[WinniWoman]

I have 5 landline phones- 2 are cordless, 2 are corded wall phones and 1 is a rotary corded wall phone in our garage!! LOL! We have very bad cell service where we live anyway- but mainly have cell phones for the car.

 

[vacationhopeful]

I have 5 landline phones- 2 are cordless, 2 are corded wall phones and 1 is a rotary corded wall phone in our garage!! LOL! We have very bad cell service where we live anyway- but mainly have cell phones for the car.

5 different landline phone numbers?

I used to have 4 different landline phone numbers with multiple extensions on each ... at different locations.

Ooma is a VAST improvement - 2 different numbers with 3 extensions in the house. All for less than $10 monthly.

As for cell lines ... my contract cell phone which I should downsize to a per minute cell service (I am out of contract) plus 2 other prepaid Tracfones ... the $10 phone (Walmart) and the $100 smart phone including a year's worth of service (QVC).

 

[Phydeaux]

I have 5 landline phones- 2 are cordless, 2 are corded wall phones and 1 is a rotary corded wall phone in our garage!! LOL! We have very bad cell service where we live anyway- but mainly have cell phones for the car.

Have you tried another cell provider? Their coverages vary, greatly.

Living in a rural area, after having had about 4 different cell carriers over the years, we can now place & receive calls from the basement. U.S Cellular :whoopie: That was it for the landline. It's gone!

With our last carrier, Verizon, we had zero cell signal at home.

 

[Weimaraner]

We have an unlisted landline we keep for our home alarm system (also has cell backup). We switched to Comcast phone service and the good thing is I can use their app to text and make free international calls on my ipad using our home number. The bad news- We've been getting all kinds of Fake IRS and Microsoft calls. Annoying.

 

[WinniWoman]

5 different landline phone numbers?

I used to have 4 different landline phone numbers with multiple extensions on each ... at different locations.

Ooma is a VAST improvement - 2 different numbers with 3 extensions in the house. All for less than $10 monthly.

As for cell lines ... my contract cell phone which I should downsize to a per minute cell service (I am out of contract) plus 2 other prepaid Tracfones ... the $10 phone (Walmart) and the $100 smart phone including a year's worth of service (QVC).

Lol! Not 5 numbers- just phones!! Only pay $7.00 per month. Tied in with our DSL service ($60) and our home security system. Have an unlisted number. My cell phone is provided by my employer. My husband is not a phone user- he has a free phone from Puretalk at $10 per month.

I feel more secure having a landline and to me the cell phone is just an extra in case. As I said- mainly for use in the car for emergencies, etc.

 

["Roger"]

Another bad cell phone service area (all carriers).

On the other hand, my wife and I are finding it more and more frustrating not to be able to look up someone's phone number. We keep track of those we can, but there are times that you need someone's phone number that is no longer listed because they just have cell service.

 

[Phydeaux]

Another bad cell phone service area (all carriers).

On the other hand, my wife and I are finding it more and more frustrating not to be able to look up someone's phone number. We keep track of those we can, but there are times that you need someone's phone number that is no longer listed because they just have cell service.

If they wanted you to have it, they would have provided it

 

["Roger"]

If they wanted you to have it, they would have provided it

Not necessarily. It can be someone whom we are on a committee with, found a lost credit card (yes, it has happened), and many other reasons. Not everyone you need to phone is a close friend.

(By-the-by, if you contact a credit card company that you found someone's card, they will cancel the card. People would rather have it returned.)

 

[am1]

Not necessarily. It can be someone whom we are on a committee with, found a lost credit card (yes, it has happened), and many other reasons. Not everyone you need to phone is a close friend.

(By-the-by, if you contact a credit card company that you found someone's card, they will cancel the card. People would rather have it returned.)

I would be inclined to cancel a credit card of mine that someone found anyways.

 

[bogey21]

I have not had a land line in 15 years. Assuming $50 per month I have saved $9,000.

George

 

[WinniWoman]

I have not had a land line in 15 years. Assuming $50 per month I have saved $9,000.

George

Mine only costs $7. I have a basic plan and I also keep a calling card with cheap minutes for the rare times I make very long long distance calls.

 

[Elan]

We have a landline still, but only because after the "bundling discounts", it costs minimally more to keep it. Having said that, I literally don't even flinch when the home phone rings and my wife seldom does either. Virtually every call is screened via voice mail or caller ID.

I need to once again look into the financials. Maybe it's more attractive to ditch it now.

 

[Weimaraner]

Not necessarily. It can be someone whom we are on a committee with, found a lost credit card (yes, it has happened), and many other reasons. Not everyone you need to phone is a close friend.

(By-the-by, if you contact a credit card company that you found someone's card, they will cancel the card. People would rather have it returned.)

I know what you're talking about. We own business with different locations and sometimes customers have dropped or left behind their credit cards on the counter. We try to contact asap so they don't panic, especially when holiday shopping. Some people are easy to track down, others are not. If we can't reach the customer, we call the credit card company and they will cancel the account even if we lock up the card for safe keeping. It seems like they would trust a business owner, but alas no. I hate to have a card cancelled for a customer.

 

[geekette]

I have a landline, partly due to crappy cell service, but also because as part of bundle, very cheap, including some international LD free. I don't ever have to count minutes or look at the clock to see if I'm into "free minutes" time and never charged an overage fee.

I don't give out my cell number because it is for my convenience. I like to know that when it rings, it is someone I want to hear from. This also keeps me from getting onto lists that are sold and resold. The caller id display on the tv is great, too, as I can decide if I need to get up to answer it or let it go.

I also like that should I ever need to dial 911, I can just dial 911 and emergency folks will know my address. No weird "in this area dial a 1 before 911" or stuff like that.

 

[dioxide45]

It seems that they are lumping VIOP in with landlines. I suspect that doesn't bode well for traditional landline service providers. Good thing that most of them branched out and diversified the services that they offer.

 

[frankhi]

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[RuralEngineer]

landlines

this change was predicted long ago. AT&T is trying to remove the requirement to support landlines. The shift to a digital world with high bandwidth pipes changes the requirements for many services. I also gave up cable some time ago.

Stephen

 

[isisdave]

Weimaraner, you're a prime candidate for nomorobo.com -- it supports Comcast Xfinity, anyway.

You set up your account to ring in two places ... your home, and nomorobo's data center. Before the second ring, they've looked up the calling number; if it's a known telemarketer. they pick up the line for one second and dump him. "Restricted" or "unknown" numbers still get through, but there seem to be relatively few of those.

We get about six "one-ringer"s a day, mostly from 5pm to 9pm.

If you use your phone just for outgoing or alarm purposes, just turn off the ringer entirely. I'll bet Comcast has an option to email your voicemail to you.

 

[pedro47]

this change was predicted long ago. AT&T is trying to remove the requirement to support landlines. The shift to a digital world with high bandwidth pipes changes the requirements for many services. I also gave up cable some time ago.

Stephen

Ditto. The cost to own a land lines phone is double the cost over satellite and I loved my Verizon land line. We gave up our Verizon land line three months ago after over forty years as a Verizon customer.