Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA | pots can die die die
I don't care. VOIP is the future. |
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Bobcat
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ | I love my POTS
It's cheaper than the cable company's voice service. |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
1 edit | They still don't get it....
The reason Landlines are dying enmasse is because the Telco's don't or won't price them competitively given the new market paradigm.
Personally, I'd love to have a plain old POTS line--- If the price wasn't so high. POTS lines, with all the fees and junk tacked on, are around $35 a month here... ie Base rate for no calling features (just dial tone) is around $20. So approx. $10-$15 of that price is fees, surcharges, USF, etc etc but still....
Give people a POTS line for $10 a month (incl. Caller ID, yadda, yadda, yadda) + fees and I think they'd do a lot better.
--
"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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rob316
join:2005-10-17
Carteret, NJ | reply to Bobcat
Re: I love my POTS
Funny I just switched back to Verizon landline and DSL, I use to have Comcast but there HD lineup for tv was horrible. So i took the Verizon package of DTV, DSL and landline. I save around 70 bucks a month now. |
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Quake110
join:2003-12-20
Ottawa, ON
·Velcom
| reply to Jerm
Re: pots can die die die
In Canada, I don't feel the same way. Pots are the most reliable, I don't even trust the cable companies because the battery in the devices will last a few hours at most.
Imagine if I had VoIP During the big East American-Canadian blackout?... We will be cut off. Only the pots stayed working. |
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jarthur31
join:2006-04-14
Carlsbad, NM | reply to KrK
Re: They still don't get it....
Heck, $30/month for all those extras would be good enough for me as long as you can sign a contract that doesn't increase that price (including those extra bogus fees) for a year or two. |
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EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA | reply to KrK
In some places, POTS is still regulated, which makes pricing competitively difficult. |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | POTS is regulated, but generally, I've never heard of a Utility commission yet to deny a request to lower the price of a service. |
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theDUDE
vote with your wallet
join:2008-05-10
Wytheville, VA
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
| I cancelled landline because...
EMBARQ kept promising dsl but never delivered so i stopped giving them money for a service i don't need. I have a cell phone and when the power goes out i can still use it! I wonder what percentage of that 2,000 a day. I won't be an EMBARQ customer again until they actually spend some money on the infrastructure and offer me the dsl, without phone service would be preferred. Forcing your customer to bundled services is like a smack to the face. They don't like it.
I just can't help but think this could all be fixed by improving customer service and above all else spend some money on that infrastructure instead of wasting it on other things! |
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EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA | reply to KrK
Re: They still don't get it....
The problem is lowering the price makes it difficult to raise it again later... of course, from the consumer's standpoint that's a good thing. |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
| said by EPS  :The problem is lowering the price makes it difficult to raise it again later... of course, from the consumer's standpoint that's a good thing. True, but the issue at hand is losing the subs to VOIP and cell enmasse.
You have 2 options: Try to compete, either by lowering the price, adding more features, or both.... or
2) Give up, do nothing, and kiss 'em bye bye. 
--
"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
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Phil
Rojo Sol
Premium
join:2001-06-11
Camarillo, CA | No POTS here...
Dropped Verizon about 3 weeks ago after piss poor service and high prices. Now using Vonage. |
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keysgate
join:2003-03-15
Trenton, MI
 ·T-Mobile VoIP
 ·T-Mobile US
1 edit | Great Landline Exodus
For many years I did not have a choice in local OR long-distance. They were like this is what you get. Take it or leave it. Now I have a choice in everything. I have VoIP unlimited for 10 bucks a month. If you would of told them back then how the future would be, they would of just laughed in your face and hung up. No tears shed from me---SEE YA!  |
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Blackened
Your Freedom Fries Are Stale
join:2003-09-29
| reply to Quake110
Re: pots can die die die
It's a bit of a paradox, Joe consumer's options are
VOIP is good because it isn't POTS.
POTS still works when the power is cut.
VOIP does not work because it likely needs a router/network or working transmitter which goes with the power.
POTS has an advantage, but almost everyone nowadays with that uses a phone system that will only work when the power is on. Better have backup phone like I do.
--
Moore/Alexander 2008
Conservatives love religious-like aphorisms so here's one: "Freedom isn't free. It's Made in China." |
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NellyV
join:2008-07-07
Taunton, MA
| The Great Landline Exodus
With stories like this it's no wonder why telcos are bundling in pots lines with other services...ie, dsl, or in my case Fios. The pots line cost me under $10/month with the triple play. If the price jumps too high after a year I'll be going to VOIP. |
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Foolish
@sbcglobal.net
| POTS
The Internet and ancillaries is an eggshell, easily broken. Putting you eggs all in one basket (to coin an very old adage) is a big mistake. Kinda like getting all your news from the web (or cable TV). I consider myself a tech-savy user & will not drop POTS for cell-only or VOIP.
Keep your options open. Or ? |
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Smith6612
Premium
join:2008-02-01
united state
·Dish Network
·Verizon Online DSL
·FrontierNet Intern..
| reply to Blackened
Re: pots can die die die
I have a very old 900MHz cordless phone that if the base unit has a battery in it, will let the unit run for a while. The phone itself, however won't charge, which saves the battery tremendously. My 2.4GHz device, however doesn't have this ability. Otherwise, I'm a POTS user and prefer POTS over VoIP for a couple reasons. |
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Blackened
Your Freedom Fries Are Stale
join:2003-09-29 | I haven't ever known a person to change the battery in their alarm clocks that they use every morning, never mind their phone.
We're all just a lazy bunch. |
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tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
| $15 just to walk in the door, AKA TAXES AND FEES!
The $15 barrier just to pony up to a telecom for POTS is cost prohibitive these days when an unlimited voip phone line can cost only a few dollars more than that, provided you have a broadband connection or a cable dual play service. For all the negatives of having a VOIP service, the all mighty dollar will trump them nearly every time!
A non-comparable Voice service from a telco STARTS at around $40 per month non-bundled with few, if any features. This is what will kill the POTS industry. |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | What else did they expect
When they have bullcrap fees like the "you didn't use enough long distance" fee?
They actually think people would put up with being dollared to death? |
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