I was talking to my old buddy on the phone this afternoon.One of his
sons works for Bell South (at&t) here in Jackson, he is a Techinal
Engineer at the phone company.

He said in a year, there will be no more land lines phone lines in
America.When I asked him, Why? He said becouse so many people nowadays
have cell phones and land line maintnance has gotten too expensive for
the phone companies.

What a Ca - tas - toe - strope! ~ Jimmy Durante.
cuhulin

wrote:
I was talking to my old buddy on the phone this afternoon.One of his
sons works for Bell South (at&t) here in Jackson, he is a Techinal
Engineer at the phone company.

He said in a year, there will be no more land lines phone lines in
America.When I asked him, Why? He said becouse so many people nowadays
have cell phones and land line maintnance has gotten too expensive for
the phone companies.

What a Ca - tas - toe - strope! ~ Jimmy Durante.
cuhulin

I have an old school phone line. I have measured service for
$6.50/month. You want a copper pair if you can get one, especially if
you're getting old and live alone. 9-1-1 isn't reliable any other way.

On Sep 27, 7:55*pm, wrote:
I was talking to my old buddy on the phone this afternoon.One of his
sons works for Bell South (at&t) here in Jackson, he is a Techinal
Engineer at the phone company.

He said in a year, there will be no more land lines phone lines in
America.When I asked him, Why? He said becouse so many people nowadays
have cell phones and land line maintnance has gotten too expensive for
the phone companies.

What a Ca - tas - toe - strope! ~ Jimmy Durante.
cuhulin

Yes there will.

"dave" wrote in message
.. .
wrote:
I was talking to my old buddy on the phone this afternoon.One of his
sons works for Bell South (at&t) here in Jackson, he is a Techinal
Engineer at the phone company.

He said in a year, there will be no more land lines phone lines in
America.When I asked him, Why? He said becouse so many people nowadays
have cell phones and land line maintnance has gotten too expensive for
the phone companies.

What a Ca - tas - toe - strope! ~ Jimmy Durante.
cuhulin

I have an old school phone line. I have measured service for
$6.50/month. You want a copper pair if you can get one, especially if
you're getting old and live alone. 9-1-1 isn't reliable any other way.

They still have to maintain landlines for their ADSL and TV over phone line
services. Don't believe for a minute that they will toss out their cash
cow(s).

On 9/28/09 01:25 , Brenda Ann wrote:
wrote in message
.. .
wrote:
I was talking to my old buddy on the phone this afternoon.One of his
sons works for Bell South (at&t) here in Jackson, he is a Techinal
Engineer at the phone company.

He said in a year, there will be no more land lines phone lines in
America.When I asked him, Why? He said becouse so many people nowadays
have cell phones and land line maintnance has gotten too expensive for
the phone companies.

What a Ca - tas - toe - strope! ~ Jimmy Durante.
cuhulin

I have an old school phone line. I have measured service for
$6.50/month. You want a copper pair if you can get one, especially if
you're getting old and live alone. 9-1-1 isn't reliable any other way.

They still have to maintain landlines for their ADSL and TV over phone line
services. Don't believe for a minute that they will toss out their cash
cow(s).




They're moving to bundled voice-internet-TV. When ATT installs
U-Verse, around here, the first thing they do is cut the copper. In
many cases, if possible, they remove the drop line from the pole, so
the pair can't be reactivated. Verizon cuts the copper when they
install FiOS. Comcast cuts ATT's copper when they install their bundle.

The intent is eventually to have fibre installed to the house.

ATT sent representatives into my neighborhood going door to door
to inform customers that they were removing copper pair, and
suggesting that all customers move to U-Verse. I told them to pound
sand. I was informed that my copper would remain intact for the time
being. But that it was to be phased out in the coming year and I
would have no choice but to install a ComCast or U-Verse bundle.

When I informed them I had a T-1 and was not interested in either
cable or their data service, I was told in no uncertain terms that I
don't get a choice in the matter when the time comes. And that
landline service would ONLY be available with a cable-internet bundle.

"D. Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
On 9/28/09 01:25 , Brenda Ann wrote:
wrote in message
.. .
wrote:
I was talking to my old buddy on the phone this afternoon.One of his
sons works for Bell South (at&t) here in Jackson, he is a Techinal
Engineer at the phone company.

He said in a year, there will be no more land lines phone lines in
America.When I asked him, Why? He said becouse so many people nowadays
have cell phones and land line maintnance has gotten too expensive for
the phone companies.

What a Ca - tas - toe - strope! ~ Jimmy Durante.
cuhulin

I have an old school phone line. I have measured service for
$6.50/month. You want a copper pair if you can get one, especially if
you're getting old and live alone. 9-1-1 isn't reliable any other way.

They still have to maintain landlines for their ADSL and TV over phone
line
services. Don't believe for a minute that they will toss out their cash
cow(s).




They're moving to bundled voice-internet-TV. When ATT installs U-Verse,
around here, the first thing they do is cut the copper. In many cases, if
possible, they remove the drop line from the pole, so the pair can't be
reactivated. Verizon cuts the copper when they install FiOS. Comcast cuts
ATT's copper when they install their bundle.

The intent is eventually to have fibre installed to the house.

ATT sent representatives into my neighborhood going door to door to
inform customers that they were removing copper pair, and suggesting that
all customers move to U-Verse. I told them to pound sand. I was informed
that my copper would remain intact for the time being. But that it was to
be phased out in the coming year and I would have no choice but to install
a ComCast or U-Verse bundle.

When I informed them I had a T-1 and was not interested in either cable
or their data service, I was told in no uncertain terms that I don't get a
choice in the matter when the time comes. And that landline service would
ONLY be available with a cable-internet bundle.

Sounds like time to contact your state's Public Utilities commission or
equivalent. Phone service is a publicly regulated utility, and I'm pretty
sure all state and federal law says they can't force you to take other
services you do not want or need.

D. Peter Maus wrote:

They're moving to bundled voice-internet-TV. When ATT installs
U-Verse, around here, the first thing they do is cut the copper. In many
cases, if possible, they remove the drop line from the pole, so the pair
can't be reactivated. Verizon cuts the copper when they install FiOS.
Comcast cuts ATT's copper when they install their bundle.

The intent is eventually to have fibre installed to the house.

ATT sent representatives into my neighborhood going door to door to
inform customers that they were removing copper pair, and suggesting
that all customers move to U-Verse. I told them to pound sand. I was
informed that my copper would remain intact for the time being. But that
it was to be phased out in the coming year and I would have no choice
but to install a ComCast or U-Verse bundle.

When I informed them I had a T-1 and was not interested in either
cable or their data service, I was told in no uncertain terms that I
don't get a choice in the matter when the time comes. And that landline
service would ONLY be available with a cable-internet bundle.

Yet another reason to stay with copper all the way to the C.O.:

Power.

With copper, you get talk battery from the C.O. and the C.O. has a large
battery supply and a Diesel turbine/generator to keep those batteries
charged -- and keep your phone service going when you need 9-1-1.

If you get phone service from the U-verse V-rad (video remote access
device) or from a neighborhood SLC (subscriber loop carrier), you only
have a few hours of local battery until you lose dial tone. If you have
a -localized- power failure, the telco can dispatch someone with new
batteries or a temporary generator. However, if it is a MAJOR power
failure like we had a few years ago, there aren't enough employees with
generators to go around. You are screwed, while the guy on copper still
has service.

D. Peter Maus wrote:
On 9/28/09 01:25 , Brenda Ann wrote:
wrote in message
.. .
wrote:
I was talking to my old buddy on the phone this afternoon.One of his
sons works for Bell South (at&t) here in Jackson, he is a Techinal
Engineer at the phone company.

He said in a year, there will be no more land lines phone lines in
America.When I asked him, Why? He said becouse so many people nowadays
have cell phones and land line maintnance has gotten too expensive for
the phone companies.

What a Ca - tas - toe - strope! ~ Jimmy Durante.
cuhulin

I have an old school phone line. I have measured service for
$6.50/month. You want a copper pair if you can get one, especially if
you're getting old and live alone. 9-1-1 isn't reliable any other way.

They still have to maintain landlines for their ADSL and TV over phone
line
services. Don't believe for a minute that they will toss out their cash
cow(s).




They're moving to bundled voice-internet-TV. When ATT installs
U-Verse, around here, the first thing they do is cut the copper. In many
cases, if possible, they remove the drop line from the pole, so the pair
can't be reactivated. Verizon cuts the copper when they install FiOS.
Comcast cuts ATT's copper when they install their bundle.

U Verse is twisted pair from a box in your neighborhood. Fiber to the Node.

On 9/28/09 03:06 , Brenda Ann wrote:
"D. Peter wrote in message
...
On 9/28/09 01:25 , Brenda Ann wrote:
wrote in message
.. .
wrote:
I was talking to my old buddy on the phone this afternoon.One of his
sons works for Bell South (at&t) here in Jackson, he is a Techinal
Engineer at the phone company.

He said in a year, there will be no more land lines phone lines in
America.When I asked him, Why? He said becouse so many people nowadays
have cell phones and land line maintnance has gotten too expensive for
the phone companies.

What a Ca - tas - toe - strope! ~ Jimmy Durante.
cuhulin

I have an old school phone line. I have measured service for
$6.50/month. You want a copper pair if you can get one, especially if
you're getting old and live alone. 9-1-1 isn't reliable any other way.

They still have to maintain landlines for their ADSL and TV over phone
line
services. Don't believe for a minute that they will toss out their cash
cow(s).




They're moving to bundled voice-internet-TV. When ATT installs U-Verse,
around here, the first thing they do is cut the copper. In many cases, if
possible, they remove the drop line from the pole, so the pair can't be
reactivated. Verizon cuts the copper when they install FiOS. Comcast cuts
ATT's copper when they install their bundle.

The intent is eventually to have fibre installed to the house.

ATT sent representatives into my neighborhood going door to door to
inform customers that they were removing copper pair, and suggesting that
all customers move to U-Verse. I told them to pound sand. I was informed
that my copper would remain intact for the time being. But that it was to
be phased out in the coming year and I would have no choice but to install
a ComCast or U-Verse bundle.

When I informed them I had a T-1 and was not interested in either cable
or their data service, I was told in no uncertain terms that I don't get a
choice in the matter when the time comes. And that landline service would
ONLY be available with a cable-internet bundle.

Sounds like time to contact your state's Public Utilities commission or
equivalent. Phone service is a publicly regulated utility, and I'm pretty
sure all state and federal law says they can't force you to take other
services you do not want or need.




My thinking, exactly. However, Verizon has been doing this for
two years, now, without action. ATT has been doing it for a year in
this area, without action. Comcast has been doing it since they
started offering phone service. And without action.

Either they're exploiting a loophole in the public utilities
laws, or the PUC simply can't be motivated to take action.

I've written letters. Made phone calls. I'm not taking this
without a scrap.

And I've got the same advantage that Chris Condon had in the 70's
when SWB attempted to jack his mother's rates by 400% when the
company unilaterally did away with party lines in southeast
Missouri: I'm Media.

On 9/28/09 06:24 , Nick Danger wrote:
D. Peter Maus wrote:

They're moving to bundled voice-internet-TV. When ATT installs
U-Verse, around here, the first thing they do is cut the copper. In
many cases, if possible, they remove the drop line from the pole, so
the pair can't be reactivated. Verizon cuts the copper when they
install FiOS. Comcast cuts ATT's copper when they install their bundle.

The intent is eventually to have fibre installed to the house.

ATT sent representatives into my neighborhood going door to door to
inform customers that they were removing copper pair, and suggesting
that all customers move to U-Verse. I told them to pound sand. I was
informed that my copper would remain intact for the time being. But
that it was to be phased out in the coming year and I would have no
choice but to install a ComCast or U-Verse bundle.

When I informed them I had a T-1 and was not interested in either
cable or their data service, I was told in no uncertain terms that I
don't get a choice in the matter when the time comes. And that
landline service would ONLY be available with a cable-internet bundle.

Yet another reason to stay with copper all the way to the C.O.:

Power.

With copper, you get talk battery from the C.O. and the C.O. has a large
battery supply and a Diesel turbine/generator to keep those batteries
charged -- and keep your phone service going when you need 9-1-1.

If you get phone service from the U-verse V-rad (video remote access
device) or from a neighborhood SLC (subscriber loop carrier), you only
have a few hours of local battery until you lose dial tone. If you have
a -localized- power failure, the telco can dispatch someone with new
batteries or a temporary generator. However, if it is a MAJOR power
failure like we had a few years ago, there aren't enough employees with
generators to go around. You are screwed, while the guy on copper still
has service.


Precisely my thinking. Even my T-1 has battery voltage on it, to
power the SmartJack.

It's unconscionable that local phone would be so dependent on
local power.