Community Chat

[Jersey Born]

@THEY CallMe Mr Wilkes -- Yay!!!!!  That is a wonderful victory for the people living in California.

Thank you for posting this important news. 

[gardenman]

The issue with landlines is the cost to the operator. The big cables have lots of little wires inside of them and those little wires all have insulation on them. Most of those big cables are now 40, 50, or more years old and the insulation is failing. When the insulation fails, the service becomes unreliable. You get static, or the phone stops working completely in worst-case scenarios. The only solution is to replace those older fading cables, but the cost is absurd and most providers simply can't afford to replace all of the cables.

To replace the cables in one small town can cost millions and there simply aren't enough subscribers to cover the cost. And just finding cable suppliers is difficult as once the country's phone service was built out, those manufacturing the large phone cables had no more market and moved on to something else. Conventional phone lines also require switching stations that cost money and need nonstop maintenance.

When I worked for Frontier Communications we had customers whose landline phone service was horrible due to failing cables, but they lived in remote areas and it would cost several hundred thousand dollars to get new cables to them. It's just unaffordable to the service providers. If you have to spend two hundred thousand dollars to place a new line that will serve a handful of customers, you'll never make back that investment. And businesses are in business to make money, not lose it.

Landline phones are a dying technology and there's not a lot anyone can do to revive it. Cable phone service, cellular service, and even satellite service, will replace old hard-wired landlines. When those big cables fail, there's just no way to keep the landlines functional.

[THEY CallMe Mr Wilkes]

Yes, the days of the landline phone are numbered,  but this is certainly a period of welcome, if temporary relief for those still reliant on the technology in California,  many being elderly.

The Commission reports it received 5,000 emails and letters in opposition to the AT&T request, and 6,000 attended the series of public hearings.  Those are a lot of voices being heard.

(I do wonder how some positive news from a regulatory body in California turned into a bashing of the entire state, but that's the Q forum!)

[candys mine]

It does seem that consumers have embraced the move to cell phones.

I am Just wondering... If the cell service is lost due to some sort of natural event like those large fires going on ( may all be safe ) Do the Landlines still function? Are the lines buried underground in rural areas or overhead on telephone poles?

[Teddixat]

@gardenman    Excellent post and you are spot on.   Most companies don't offer real landline services anymore for the reasons in your post.  People will just have to adjust

[Teddixat]

@SharkE   and we're glad you're not here

[layla2450]

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@Teddixat wrote:

@SharkE   and we're glad you're not here

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GOOD ONE!!! There is ALWAYS someone who loves to diss CA.

[Teddixat]

@Sutorius 👏👍

[Teddixat]

@layla24550. And we know who they are!!!