 
DaveNJ
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey | wrong direction The problem with landlines is price, if they matched cellular or lower, they would be fine. My landline is out more then my cellphone btw. | |
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sholling
Premium
join:2002-02-13
Hemet, CA
| Re: wrong direction It's all about price. Telcos want to charge way too much money for a landline, way too much for long distance, and way too much for add-ons like caller ID. They could easily drop the price for a full featured landline with 1000 minutes of long distance to under $15 and make lots of money. Or match Vonage with a $25 full featured unlimited package. The problem is that they own both the landlines and the cell business and have no reason to undercut themselves.
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"Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
--FREDERIC BASTIAT-- | |
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lucky644
Premium
join:2002-02-04
| Re: wrong direction said by sholling  :It's all about price. Telcos want to charge way too much money for a landline, way too much for long distance, and way too much for add-ons like caller ID. They could easily drop the price for a full featured landline with 1000 minutes of long distance to under $15 and make lots of money. Or match Vonage with a $25 full featured unlimited package. The problem is that they own both the landlines and the cell business and have no reason to undercut themselves. I used to pay a ridiculous amount for my landline + voicemail + callerid + call waiting.
I called them up and told them to cancel my account of 7 years, and they were confused as to why, even after I told them my cell phone was cheaper, AND I always have it on me.
Landlines need to compete, badly, or they'll go under.
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~~Desu | |
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sholling
Premium
join:2002-02-13
Hemet, CA
1 edit | Re: wrong direction I'm just waiting for them to hook up my FIOS and my landline goes away. The fiber has been at the curb now for 6 months. If only they'd get around to hooking it up.
Edit: Holy crap I just checked and it's available!
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"Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
--FREDERIC BASTIAT-- | |
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lucky644
Premium
join:2002-02-04
| Re: wrong direction said by sholling :I'm just waiting for them to hook up my FIOS and my landline goes away. The fiber has been at the curb now for 6 months. If only they'd get around to hooking it up. Originally I had ADSL for my internet, until I discovered my cable company could offer 25mbit speeds (over 4 times faster) for half the price.
I have wireless for phone, cable for internet, why have a landline I never use? It seems very obvious to me that almost everyone is leaving their landlines for the same reasons. No bang for their buck.
I asked my telco when I canceled, "what could you possibly offer me to stay?" and I didn't get a response back 
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swhx7
Premium
join:2006-07-23
Elbonia
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Solution in search of a problem? Consumers are giving up landlines, but telcos are still selling them to businesses. A business or other organization will have its own pbx or whatever in the building, but then it goes to a line in the street.
And as someome else pointed out, once the wireless calls come from the tower they go into copper or fiber. | |
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Matt
Gone playing Dragon Age Origins
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
| Re: Solution in search of a problem? said by swhx7 :Consumers are giving up landlines, but telcos are still selling them to businesses. A business or other organization will have its own pbx or whatever in the building, but then it goes to a line in the street. And as someome else pointed out, once the wireless calls come from the tower they go into copper or fiber. If a business is tying POTS lines into a PBX they need to leave the 1970's. Multiple lines pulled into a PBX are done via digital circuit (like a T-1, or fractional variant) rather than traditional analog POTS lines.
I think folks are confusing a telco's data network with the POTS phone system. | |
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| | | clecssuck
join:2002-01-23
Birmingham, AL | Re: Solution in search of a problem? Why? What if I only need 3 or 4 lines? Keep it simple if at all possible. | |
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phoneboy3
@shawcable.net
| They stopped investing in POTs years ago. The problem is they have this 100 year old infrastructure that is too old to do much more with and too expensive to do a forklift upgrade on. They should have been spending more to upgrade the infrastructure to fiber but instead chose to pocket the profits. Now that the cable companies have been able to match their service on a more modern infrastructure their day of reconing is here. | |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| I am one young one who does not want my landline to go especially for 911 service. POTs is far more stable with no batteries to ever worry about than cell phone. My brother called my mom last Christmas on his cell - could only hear every other word.
Phone line is just over $31 and for 911 when I need it - it is worth it. | |
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insomniac
Oh Yeah
Premium
join:2002-09-22
Naperville, IL
clubs:
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Solution in search of a problem? said by CylonRed :I am one young one who does not want my landline to go especially for 911 service. POTs is far more stable with no batteries to ever worry about than cell phone. Same here. 27 years old, have had a POTS line for six years, not getting rid of it.
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If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Easy Solution Lower the price.
Include unlimited everything, including fees, for $20 a month. Once a service is priced at the level at which consumers believe it is worth, there will be more demand.
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Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty | |
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Tomek
Premium
join:2002-01-30
Brooklyn, NY
 ·Packet8
| Re: Easy Solution Verizon started doing it, when I called them that I am considering dropping POTS and DSL, they offered lower price on POTS.
If you have a DSL on dry loop, they add $10 to the DSL fees.
In the end I got a decent deal. Wireless coverage sucks, and net is not reliable enough to be VoIP only. | |
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AMDUSER
Premium
join:2003-05-28
Earth
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Easy Solution If they stopped charging some of the garbage fees like "FCC Primary Line" charge like AT&T and Verizon charge maybe they wouldn't have so many people switching.
Example: »www.newnetworks.com/dirtyphonebill.htm
-Verizon, In this case, FCC Line Charge.
Note: That fee goes directly to the ILEC / (Service Provider).
Locally, Time Warner does not charge that fee.. | |
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Slidetbone
Mazin Go
Premium
join:2002-11-10
Land O Lakes, FL
| Re: Easy Solution Thats the difference between regulated and non regulated service. The telcos don't want to charge this but they have to, they are under tariffs.
To fix this, all telcos need to lobby DC and request a change in the tariffing and regulations of POTS. It has to be across the board, all bells and independent carriers. Then, you can see them competing.
Cable, cellular and VoIP are non regulated.. | |
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| | | | Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO
| Re: Easy Solution Right.... because deregulation has brought on so much more competition, technology advancement, and price wars.
I have just a land line: $14.00, then I pay $5.38 cents for their slush fund (USF).
So regardless of "tariffs", they are raping customers on the USF. | |
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nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD | simple answers to difficult questions quote:
Do you think carriers might want to make some tough decisions, cut the cord, and focus that revenue and brain power on future technologies?
No. | |
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erikthebean
join:2007-06-25
Manchester, NH | OO boy what people dont understand is the wireless system is based on POTS so its not like we could just get rid of it.....but i think its time for telco's to lower prices...then again its not always up to them ...its up to the state PUC's | |
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Matt
Gone playing Dragon Age Origins
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| Re: OO boy said by erikthebean :what people dont understand is the wireless system is based on POTS so its not like we could just get rid of it.... How is it being based on one technology make it tied to that technology? If they stopped offering POTS lines to consumers it's not like all the central offices are going to shut down and all the cell site backhauls are going to go dark. | |
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| | Mechano
join:2004-05-30
Antarctica
| Re: OO boy said by Matt :said by erikthebean :what people dont understand is the wireless system is based on POTS so its not like we could just get rid of it.... How is it being based on one technology make it tied to that technology? If they stopped offering POTS lines to consumers it's not like all the central offices are going to shut down and all the cell site backhauls are going to go dark. Ummm....yes and no. It is based on POTS here in the states, but not for every carrier, and not everywhere. Most of the European countries are using microwave links instead. | |
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| fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Re: lower the price, you idiots When things like CallerID became $8.00 a month, and voice mail became $10.00 a month, and call waiting is $5.00 a month, and land lines became $22 a month and then the taxes and fees that almost amount to the price of a land line dial tone itself, the phone companies can only look to themselves. They need to spend less time trying to figure out why their land line service is becoming as obsolete as the dinosaurs become.. no wait.. they need to look at their Sr. management and executives and remind themselves that they, themselves, are obsolete like the dinosaurs are. They could do the economy a favor and quickly turn into oil as they should.
Their business model is old and outdated and needs a major overhaul. I don't agree that a land line should be $10 a month out the door, but their "rope the customer into crap they don't need to get a price point we want" kinda crap isn't working to well for them either.
They should also stop trying to play people too. They're not hurting.. they're not in trouble.. they're HAPPY to push people off copper onto the more lucrative wireless business they all have. | |
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spewak
Kiss It, Kiss It Real Good
Premium
join:2001-08-07
Elk Grove, CA
·SureWest Internet
·FrontierNet Intern..
| Re: lower the price, you idiots said by fiberguy :When things like CallerID became $8.00 a month, and voice mail became $10.00 a month, and call waiting is $5.00 a month, and land lines became $22 a month and then the taxes and fees that almost amount to the price of a land line dial tone itself One more thing/fee: $5.00 to NOT have your name published in the Phone book. Wholeheartedly agree with the rest of your post also.
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The weekend is here, grab a can of beer! | |
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newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD | As has already been said . . . Lower the damn price . . . and I *might* consider coming back.
The high price was why I left in the first place. | |
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major marco
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA
clubs:
| Yeah Sure quote:
do you think there's enough remaining home phone customers to make these investments worthwhile?
I'm sure me along with the other 500 people in the entire country who still have a landline are just dying to receive text messages on the landline.
/sarcasm
How about just lowering the damn price to $10/mo. or less as was done for dial up accounts once most areas had broadband.
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The Toll
Tracking Lord Stanley
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DataDoc
My avatar looks like me, if I was 2D.
Premium
join:2000-05-14
Greenville, NC
·Suddenlink
| The only reason I have a land line is for my burglar alarm (I haven't gotten a fax in years). The other side of this coin is the alarm providers want an arm and a leg to go wireless. Oh yeah, DirecTV has to initialize their DVRs with a land line. No jack, no service.
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Output from a climate model is not "data". | |
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| dishrich
join:2006-05-12
Springfield, IL
| Re: The only reason I have a land line is said by DataDoc :DirecTV has to initialize their DVRs with a land line. No jack, no service. That was ONLY on the DirecTV Tivo DVR's, & even then, you ONLY needed it for the inital setup. (which I just simply did back at my place  ) NONE of the other receiver models needs it... (BTW, have MANY DirecTV clients that haven't had a landline in years... ) | |
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DataDoc
My avatar looks like me, if I was 2D.
Premium
join:2000-05-14
Greenville, NC
·Suddenlink
| Re: The only reason I have a land line is said by dishrich :said by DataDoc :DirecTV has to initialize their DVRs with a land line. No jack, no service. That was ONLY on the DirecTV Tivo DVR's, & even then, you ONLY needed it for the inital setup. (which I just simply did back at my place ) NONE of the other receiver models needs it... (BTW, have MANY DirecTV clients that haven't had a landline in years... ) I have two Tivo Series 2. | |
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| | | xrobertcmx
Premium
join:2001-06-18
Sterling, VA
clubs: | Re: The only reason I have a land line is Have had DirecTV w/DVR for nearly two years now and haven't had a pots line since 2003.
Everything was done via satellite. I don't even think it has a telephone jack on it.
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Retaking our country one election at a time. | |
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See 6 replies to this post |
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bobgwen
join:2001-07-07
Bartow, FL
·Comcast
| Same here. My wife and I considered T-mobile's at home service but it is not compatible with our alarm service. And I am stuck with a service contract with them for another 2 years. I have verizon's cheapest local service but with added fees and taxes it comes to about 26 bucks per month.
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brought to you by Carl's Jr.
Esteban Colberto for President of Cuba | |
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odinb
join:2001-11-26
Frisco, TX
| In Texas they only charge you $17 a month to go wireless.
Should be similar service in other parts of the nation.
»smiththompson.com/smiththompson/
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"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority." - Benjamin Franklin | |
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bender
Bite my shiny metal ass
Premium
join:2005-03-19
Evanston, IL
clubs: | *sniff* *sniff* i'm smelling a pattern in these complaints. could it be that landlines don't have enough value for their price? | |
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See 7 replies to this post |
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OhRry
@algx.net | Close... If they'd add GPS to it and WiFi I might consider coming back. Oh, and downloadable ringtones. | |
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b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
Bellingham, WA
·Comcast Formerly ..
4 edits | As I have said before... You can have my POTS line when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.
It may be old technology and expensive compared to cellular and VOIP but...
History has shown in my area during any real emergency cellular is useless as the towers quickly reach their capacity.
During a pipeline fire a few years ago they were on the local radio stations pleading to the public to hang-up and not attempt to use their cellulars because the police, fire, and emergency crews can not get through and need the cellular phones to coordinate efforts.
VOIP, forget it during any weather related emergencies. The local cable plant must be held up by kite string. Because anytime we have high winds (several times a year) the cable goes out and it takes as long as three days to be restored.
I have had the same POTS line for fifteen years now. As far as I know it has never failed. When cellular and VOIP services can even come close to that kind of reliability I will think about dropping my POTS line.
Edit: I must have been sleeping when I wrote this   | |
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maartena
Stacked.
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
| Make it cheaper. Most people are switching to VOIP etc, because of price. They get unlimited nationwide talking for $25, which is a small price to pay for your teenage daughters that call long distance, just because their BFF lives just outside the local calling area.
If you want to keep customers from switching, slash the prices, offer talk-all-you-want nationwide deals, and don't nickel and dime people for all little features such as caller ID, call waiting, etc.
All these new features and ideas they come up with are all nice and dandy, but they aren't tackling the underlying problem: People are switching because of the bottom line. They get more for less elsewhere.
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"We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope" - Barack Obama, 2008. | |
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PolarBear
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium
join:2005-01-03
·CableOne
| Make them just as convenient. "It's time the home phone provided the same conveniences as a wireless phone," said Dave Heimbach, vice president of product development at Cincinnati Bell. He's right! So get rid of the wires, and they'll be just as cool as wireless phones! | |
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mwa423
@scansafe.net
| Cincinnati would be a good WiMax test bed Because Cincinnati Bell is only really in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky/Dayton area, I think it would be smart for them to try something new like WiMax. Even though the terrain might present some issues, I think it would be a far better long term investment then...this. | |
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| acrowl
join:2001-08-08
California, KY | Re: Cincinnati would be a good WiMax test bed Your wish may come true.....But not from CBT.
I do know that CBT is working on some sort of data plan to tap some spectrum they have. Not sure of the flavor. But they are modifying things on their towers now. | |
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Anonymous in PA
@frontiernet.net
| Switching to vonage right now I'm currently in the process of switching to vonage and dropping my landline, and the only reason for doing this is price. My local phone service, with caller id and fees, is $45/mo. The $15 vonage plan offers more (online voicemail, etc.), for one third the price.
If the landline was even close in price I'd stay with it. | |
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Madness
A flea circus at a dog show.
join:2000-01-05
Quincy, MA
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Qwest I got rid of my Verizon landline more than a year ago. Mainly because I got tired of paying the long distance "shortfall" charge. You know, if one doesn't meet a minimum quota for LD calls, one was charged for it, anyhow.
Then there was my longtime gripe of having to pay a monthly fee just for the honor of having some LD company on my line. Didn't want to select a primary carrier? VZ still charged a buck-something a month!
Don't get me started on paying through the nose for custom calling features that come included even w/ my cheapie PAYG cellphone. Hell, there's even still a separate charge listed for Touch-Tone dialing (funny, that I remember reading somewhere a story stating that there's still an estimated 1 million rotary phones in use!)! :þ | |
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HEDP
join:2008-04-27
Miami, FL
| ... POTS is a dying in terms of interest. Companies already see that there is hardly any money more to make from two/four strands of copper.
The next logical step for POTS is not phone service, the technology won't die because it's coverage exists just about everywhere and can always be added. Just like fiber, if you upgrade the point A and point B the type of information and the speed of that information can increase.
Copper is the same animal and will see a future in data, with upgrade of more strands of copper to make it RJ-45 lines instead of RJ-11.
Wireless technology although is more rapid in terms of deployment and cost effective they also have it's downfalls. One of the main one's is coverage, wireless signals although secured can be intercepted without any physical contact unlike a POTS line where it's more easier to spot. Wireless also lacks in terms of capacity, when under heavy load for example CDMA the signal to other phone's will decrease which in general effect everyone else within the network connected to that tower.
Cellular service although many people would gripe about batteries dying, that's an easy solution, but that has never really been implemented.
POTS and cellular have their disadvantages/advantages but cellular is getting better and will eventually become the standard in phone service. Just as POTS has another future ahead in a few year's down the road. | |
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acrowl
join:2001-08-08
California, KY
| POTS and Alarm Service I too was in the same boat. I was not going to subscribe to a POTS line just for my alarm to call a central station. The wireless option was in line with what the POTS line was going to cost. As we all know VOIP is not reliable enough for an alarm and such.
Not to sound like a commercial here....I use Nextalarm.com for my alarm. You buy the box and their monitoring is dirt cheap compared to the big boys (Brinks, ADT, Sonitrol). I have used them for several years. I converted my retail locations over to them. They work great. Plus, I have my panel set up to alert me when the alarm is tripped, activated and deactivated. So I know when the kids are home from school. This is a free feature!
I have given up on faxing via VOIP. Scan and .pdf is my style now. I laugh when someone wants me to send them a fax | |
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DabberDan
join:2004-11-15
Gatineau, ON | Pots FTW IMO... Electricity goes out often here (sometimes for half a day) and it's nice to have phone, I wouldn't imagine it any other way. | |
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| laowai
join:2008-10-21
Rowland Heights, CA
| Re: Pots FTW IMO... said by DabberDan :Electricity goes out often here (sometimes for half a day) and it's nice to have phone, I wouldn't imagine it any other way. I have a cellphone, with the company footing the bill and it's an unlimited plan. $115 after tax a month and I will routinely use up a good 7000-8000 minutes with around 2000 SMS a month for business alone. I really see no point at all for a landline. If the power goes out I have an inverter in my car that will recharge the thing without a fuss. If you really want a "landline" just go VOIP and be done with it. Or a stopgap solution using Skype and forwarding/conferencing works damn great.
Landlines are dead, we in market research have known this for years. | |
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| | DabberDan
join:2004-11-15
Gatineau, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| Re: Pots FTW IMO... said by laowai :said by DabberDan :Electricity goes out often here (sometimes for half a day) and it's nice to have phone, I wouldn't imagine it any other way. I have a cellphone, with the company footing the bill and it's an unlimited plan. $115 after tax a month and I will routinely use up a good 7000-8000 minutes with around 2000 SMS a month for business alone. The only question I have is, and answer honestly now  , what if your company wasn't footing the bill?
For me, cellphones equal gauging, plain and simple. I can have an internet connection with 200GB per month where as for the phone it's 6GB (friend has an iPhone and this deal you can't get anymore) for the same price, long distance fees are higher, you're better off calling during the evenings if you want to have competitive pricing.
The good thing is that we're talking about opinions and we get to keep and use both our sides. | |
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robineaton
@wildblue.net
| Re: Pots FTW IMO... My 2 cents...
I live where there is no choice. I use satellite for internet ($$$) and for tv ($$), landline for phone ($), cell for travel ($).
There is NO dsl, fios or cable and will probably never be as I am on of 5 people who live on this road. These are available about 10 miles away but I am told will not come here until it is vastly more populated. I am stuck with a landline and all the costs involved.
Robin | |
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Telcos Desperately Try To Keep Landlines Relevant
Solution in search of a problem?
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Canceled service and went cell only.