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Verizon To Offer $5 Landline Service
With the small caveat that you can't dial out...
According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon is considering offering landline voice service for $5 a month in order to help stem the continuing defection of customers who are migrating to cable VoIP -- or just going cell only. A tiny catch: users will only be able to receive calls and dial 911 -- but won't be able to make any calls on the line. A potential $10 plan might include some local calling. Note that users will need to subscribe to Verizon broadband, and given the telco's history of below the line fees, you can expect the real price to double. Verizon lost 3.7 million access lines, or 9.3% of its base, in 2008 alone. This obviously will do nothing to stop the loss of customers, but Verizon clearly hopes it gives them a little more time as they cement their VoIP plans.
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Cheese
Premium Member
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL

Cheese

Premium Member

Um....

Double to make local calls? What the.....come on Verizon, smarten up!

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

Re: Um....

Instantly what I thought too!

Ben
Premium Member
join:2007-06-17
Fort Worth, TX

Ben to Cheese

Premium Member

to Cheese
$10 might not be so bad if it included unlimited local calls, and CID for nothing extra.

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

Re: Um....

Keep in mind, on both the $5 and $10 plans, you still have all of the "extra" landline fees. Taxes, surcharges, USF, FCC Line fee, etc.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: Um....

said by Camelot One:

Keep in mind, on both the $5 and $10 plans, you still have all of the "extra" landline fees. Taxes, surcharges, USF, FCC Line fee, etc.
Yep, $5 plan just became $30 a month. Prepaid is still cheaper.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY

wifi4milez

Member

Re: Um....

said by patcat88:
said by Camelot One:

Keep in mind, on both the $5 and $10 plans, you still have all of the "extra" landline fees. Taxes, surcharges, USF, FCC Line fee, etc.
Yep, $5 plan just became $30 a month. Prepaid is still cheaper.
Maybe not quite $30, but definitely low $20's after all is said and done. Keep in mind that you arent even getting a dialtone with that price!
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

-1 recommendation

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Um....

said by wifi4milez:

said by patcat88:
said by Camelot One:

Keep in mind, on both the $5 and $10 plans, you still have all of the "extra" landline fees. Taxes, surcharges, USF, FCC Line fee, etc.
Yep, $5 plan just became $30 a month. Prepaid is still cheaper.
Maybe not quite $30, but definitely low $20's after all is said and done. Keep in mind that you arent even getting a dialtone with that price!
Not sure where you live but all the extra taxes and fees would be under $10 a month extra. People like my mother( 62 years old ) who insist on keeping a landline, even though they never use it, this is a way of saving some money. can't quite convince her that since she uses a cell anyways she's just pissing $500 a year away on that POTS line. She's always making the excuse of "just in case" that's a hell of a fee for "just in case" in my book.

RVAguy
Premium Member
join:2006-01-05
Richmond, VA

RVAguy

Premium Member

Re: Um....

$500 is not that big of price tag for "just in case". Look at what you pay for other "just in case" expenditures, ie: insurance, meds, etc... Not defending it, just putting it in perspective.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

-1 recommendation

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Um....

said by RVAguy:

$500 is not that big of price tag for "just in case". Look at what you pay for other "just in case" expenditures, ie: insurance, meds, etc... Not defending it, just putting it in perspective.
Except that insurance actually pays for stuff if something happens. Considering she's always bitching about her bills, I'd say that cutting $500 would go a long way towards her not bitching about bills anymore.

hh huntz
@verizon.net

hh huntz to wifi4milez

Anon

to wifi4milez

Part of this is generational change (and VZN's clueless)

I think that our POTS (unlimited local) is around $25/month after all taxes. We keep it since we're on copper DSL ... and don't have CATV or Dish.

This is the local absolute minimum - no options at all. There's also no long distance monthly package as we use a third party carrier we found years ago who charges us $0.04/minute and it is pay-as-you-go: no minimum monthly fee. We usually initiate 2 hours of long distance month, so our long distance is $5/mo.

Granted, we could chop this expense out if we were to be better about using our cells for making calls, but at this price point, its not worth the bother..

And of course, we're now also looking at changing over our Verizon Cellphones to pay-as-you-go's, and saving 66% on that bill.

Insofar as FIOS, I'd like to have the speed, but not at the prices they want.

OTOH, I'd miss having fun when the FIOS salesman visits. He knocks on our door and claims "I can save you money!" We then torture the poor guy ... particularly when he gets to FIOS television - - and we lean forward and point to the antenna on our roof and say "Um...can you beat FREE?".

-hh

asdfghjklzx5
Premium Member
join:2004-05-03

asdfghjklzx5 to patcat88

Premium Member

to patcat88
That's not always true. In my area measured rate service is $7.28 a month, and all of the fees together total about $5.50.
voiptop
join:2009-02-06

voiptop to Cheese

Member

to Cheese
Really nothing special... It will be 20$ minimum with taxes and landlines fees.

andyross
MVM
join:2003-05-04
Aurora, IL

andyross

MVM

Emergency backup

The overnight link says this is only if they also have Internet service from Verizon.

I wonder if it will allow 800 numbers and similar, or truly blocks anything other than 911.

A good idea as an emergency backup. VOIP and cell phones are nowhere near as reliable as POTS in an emergency.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

What is the Real Price?

Is this before or after the fees are added?

Ben
Premium Member
join:2007-06-17
Fort Worth, TX

Ben

Premium Member

Re: What is the Real Price?

Probably before. The cost after? I'm just guessing, maybe about $13 after taxes with the $10. It's a very rough estimate.

I come to that guess by doing this. My POTS line, including all features but before taxes, is $55. After taxes, and assuming I don't make any international calls, is about $72. That's just over a 30% increase.
Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

Bobcat79

Premium Member

Already $11.95

My POTS phone service is only $11.95 right now, but taxes and fees push the total to over $21. So a $10 plan wouldn't save me much at all.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

I wouldn't mind that plan

I've been thinking about getting a POTS line for emergencies.

Offer caller ID for $1 extra or free and we have a deal.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: I wouldn't mind that plan

said by fifty nine:

I've been thinking about getting a POTS line for emergencies.

Offer caller ID for $1 extra or free and we have a deal.
My Caller ID is $11, my line is $9 (message rate). Go figure.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: I wouldn't mind that plan

It's like text messaging!

JAXx
aka Stephen
Premium Member
join:2000-03-31
New York, NY

JAXx

Premium Member

How about some new VOIP features?

What astonished me with all the voip (voicemail, caller id, follow, web management, blah) that none of them offer what many of us need which is multiple voicemail mailboxes.

I don't use my voip voice mail because i need multiple boxes and stick with a digital answering machine for this purpose.
KingofCola
join:2007-02-07
Greer, SC

KingofCola

Member

They finally get it

Hopefully AT&T will follow with their reduced cost POTS plan too. I have Packet8 VoIP for $20/month (all features) including the voice mail to email which is nice. When RBOCs offer $15-$20 POTS with equal services to VoIP then they have something to at least retain customers and be competitive.

Dolgan
Premium Member
join:2005-10-01
Madison, WI

1 edit

Dolgan

Premium Member

Re: They finally get it

No, they don't get it. This service that they are offering is not even close to what you get in a VOIP package. Furthermore, the are already required by many states to leave EDT [Express Dial Tone for 911 service] on disconnected lines {this does not apply to number ports}. The final kicker is that Verizon's lack of copper line maintainence, continuous cutbacks in the number of copper techs, and continoous cutbacks in the budget for anything related to copper lines makes this all but useless. Before this last storm hit California yesterday we were quoting 1 week+ OUT OF SERVICE COMMITMENTS--these will be pushed out even farther now. Any rain/snow melt in the upper midwest states causes OUT OF SERVICE COMMITS TO JUMP FROM 24hrs TO 3+ DAYS AND THAT DOES NOT TAKE IN TO ACCOUNT MULTIPLE MISSED COMMITS DUE TO LACK OF MANPOWER! What is the point of getting this service when it mnay not be there in an emergency?

This is just smoke and mirrors for the investors, so they can pretend they are trying retain/get new customers and is doomed to fail.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

1 edit

patcat88

Member

Re: They finally get it

said by Dolgan:

This is just smoke and mirrors for the investors, so they can pretend they are trying retain/get new customers and is doomed to fail.
"Wow, $5, this a great deal, Vonage is a rip off. Honey lets sign up for it with auto payments on the credit card and no paper bill."
wentlanc
You Can't Fix Dumb..
join:2003-07-30
Maineville, OH

wentlanc

Member

Admission of greed?????

So if they can offer a bare line for $5, that means that they are admitting that the bare copper itself can be supported for that price. They had better watch the precedent that they are setting here. I would expect that I could have DSL for this cost as a base if they ever decided to bill by the byte.

Also, who the hell are you going to call in an emergency? If you lose power, you can't call anyone else. They have to call you. Aside from 911, it seems worthless to me.

cw
Bill03
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
Richmond, VA

Bill03

Premium Member

Re: Admission of greed?????

said by wentlanc:

Aside from 911, it seems worthless to me.
You could use it for a dedicated inbound fax line I suppose. Though as Bobcat pointed out, his regular pots line is $21.95 ($10.00 plus the fees and taxes). Might as well throw in the other $10.00 and get the regular line so you could send faxes out amd make calls.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88 to wentlanc

Member

to wentlanc
said by wentlanc:

Aside from 911, it seems worthless to me.

cw
Its for the soccer moms that worry about the cable VOIP going out during the next yearly natural disaster (hurricane or tornado, pick your favorite American annual natural disaster, if your Canadian, pick the annual ice storm), so when the local news says that Comcast is going to take 2 months to restore service, you'll still have POTS for when a pedophile serial killer breaks into your house to kidnap your 1st grade beauty pageant winner daughter, and he has a cellphone jammer in his white windowless van.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_

Premium Member

Re: Admission of greed?????

said by patcat88:

said by wentlanc:

Aside from 911, it seems worthless to me.

cw
Its for the soccer moms that worry about the cable VOIP going out during the next yearly natural disaster (hurricane or tornado, pick your favorite American annual natural disaster, if your Canadian, pick the annual ice storm), so when the local news says that Comcast is going to take 2 months to restore service, you'll still have POTS for when a pedophile serial killer breaks into your house to kidnap your 1st grade beauty pageant winner daughter, and he has a cellphone jammer in his white windowless van.
i pick earthquake

Zen6
@rr.com

Zen6 to patcat88

Anon

to patcat88
Does this white van have florida plates?

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

1 edit

PapaMidnight

Member

Useless Offer Either way

Offer is useless to persons like me who live in a where the only internet option is Comcast, Comcast, and Comcast. Therefore, not only is the offer useless to persons in a market not served by FiOS, let alone DSL, it goes to further show the monopoly / duopoly system which has longed plagued America, part-in-thanks to now-former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (and possibly his predecessor) who allowed the 1996 Telecommunications Reform act to be whittled away to nothing and further in thanks to a rather lackluster Congress.
EPS4
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

EPS4

Member

Re: Useless Offer Either way

Some people are so self-centered. "It doesn't serve me, so it's useless for everyone!"

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Useless Offer Either way

said by EPS4:

Some people are so self-centered. "It doesn't serve me, so it's useless for everyone!"
On the flip side some selfish people say, "If you want FiOS, move!!!"

MrMaster
Rum Connoisseur
Premium Member
join:2000-12-16
St Thomas, VI

MrMaster

Premium Member

Re: Useless Offer Either way

said by fifty nine:

said by EPS4:

Some people are so self-centered. "It doesn't serve me, so it's useless for everyone!"
On the flip side some selfish people say, "If you want FiOS, move!!!"
I'm trying dammit!

spewak
R.I.P Dadkins
Premium Member
join:2001-08-07
Elk Grove, CA
·Consolidated Com..

spewak to EPS4

Premium Member

to EPS4
said by EPS4:

Some people are so self-centered. "It doesn't serve me, so it's useless for everyone!"
I think his point is more an indictment on the lack of Regulation that allows for junk like this to take place.

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

1 edit

PapaMidnight to EPS4

Member

to EPS4
said by EPS4:

Some people are so self-centered. "It doesn't serve me, so it's useless for everyone!"
Did I say it was "useless for everyone"? No. I specifically said the "offer is useless to persons like me". Your attempt to twist my words has failed since I was quite particular about what I said. Please take your trolling attempts elsewhere.
banner
Premium Member
join:2003-11-07
Long Beach, CA

banner

Premium Member

Don't you have this already? They just don't tell you #

There almost always a telephone number assigned to the line, but the phone company will not tell you what that number is. I believe you can reach 911 if you have dial tone.

In college, I had a phone plugged in but had not setup billing. A telemarketer called and told me the number he dialed after I asked. Free incoming calls.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

wholesale apples to fruit salad (supermarket premium prices)

Defections.. Hmm, let's compare:

Unlimited voip.. anywhere from FREE (limited features/use) to $35/40 per month with tons of calling features included and inclusive of most taxes/fees on the high side of $40.

POTS?
$5 for an incoming only tier? The FCC line charge for ANY pots line is $6.50 ALONE not to mention local, state and federal taxes/fees/911 surcharge etc.

A 500 minutes voip line is about $10 and you can buy voip minutes for a couple of pennies each. Skype & Magic Jack are examples of VOIP offerings that even put the likes of Vonage to shame in terms of competitive pricing.

Why are they pulling these last ditch efforts? VOIP is the way to go... There are very few customers who are required to keep POTS lines (certain schools, emergency services, businesses, etc). 98% of residential customers do not need POTS service. I want to see FIOS dual/triple play with voip be competitive with cable's prices. Start advertising VOIP with your FIOS commercials... it's well past time!

Mellow
Premium Member
join:2001-11-16
Salisbury, MD

Mellow

Premium Member

Home Alarm Systems

Only reason I have a home phone line is for my alarm system, having to pay $25 month just to have a stripped down phone line that never gets used is stupid. They need to make a plan for home alarm systems for $5.00 a month that you can assign an outgoing number that can be dialed along with 911.

But heck, that would be a smart move on Verizon's part, something that will never happen.

••••••

n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY

n2jtx

Member

Wonder What The Idiot Got

I wonder what the idiot that dreamed this joke up got. Probably got a nice bonus and a pat on the back for coming up with this wonderful solution to people running away from Verizon landline service. As has been pointed out, the cost will probably come to $30 after taxes, fees and other add-ons they will throw in. No thank you. I am planning to dump my Verizon line shortly for Optimum Voice. They have finally reached the price of monthly OV service without any LD service or calls. Just for a dialtone.
real_goose
join:2001-04-13
Apollo Beach, FL

real_goose

Member

POTS line costs versus VOIP

There are certainly ways to cut the cost of POTS lines now. My ATT Call Plan 50 service gives me 50 free local calls and unlimited inbound for $13.63 + $5.37 Federal Access. Other taxes and fees are about $3 for $22 month. I would consider changing, but even at $5 the other fees mean the total would likely be about $13 per month.

We do have a carefully selected for our calling patterns Global Crossings reseller for long distance which is a backup to VOIP long distance. So for $9 more a month I get a backup method for my wife to call long distance. If ATT copied the Verizon plan my savings would be about $4/month.

I want to use VOIP for all long distance calls. The VOIP caller ID is set to my POTS line. I do not pay for any VOIP DIDs, but do have 2 US numbers and 2 European numbers from various free plans. I would not want to rely on any of these to replace POTS. If Grand Central ever comes out of beta there may even be some charges to use it.

Just as our cell phones are pay as you go, all our VOIP providers are pay as you go so I have no monthly expenses for VOIP or DIDs beyond ATT. It works out well for us. As much as I'd like to delete the POTS line, it is a reliable backup to Comcast Internet and really helps the 'wife acceptance factor'. The unlimited inbound and 'real 911' make it cost effective for me.

Millenniumle
join:2007-11-11
Fredonia, NY

Millenniumle

Member

Tracfone

For $10/month I have a Tracfone with 100/minutes per month. Minutes rollover. Phone goes where I do. There are no extra or surprise fees. Just ~$.80 in local sales tax.

Zero minute landline for $5. Why?

Richard Reed
Premium Member
join:2007-08-28
Midlothian, VA

Richard Reed

Premium Member

OOMA anyone?

Why pay $5 or $10 for their service? They should include their phone service for FREE when ordering broadband service.. See OOMA for example, you can get dialtone for free from OOMA.

mod_wastrel
anonome
join:2008-03-28

mod_wastrel

Member

Not necessarily a bad idea...

given all of the "outgoing" calls some people--such as myself--make that are really incoming--such as from using GrandCentral, and they want that "real" 911. Of course, how much are those additional fees, taxes, and surcharges? (This basic line costs $6.50 now, so $5.00 is something of a savings.)

Flibbetigibbet

Anon

Sounds like a perfectly good deal to me.

I'd sign up for that in a second. We went all-cell five years ago, and kept our old landline number (as a $10/month add-on phone in a CellSocket) mostly so we could continue to receive calls from our relatives on our old phones.

Of course, this area has a dinosaur monopoly telco (The Death Star), and the idea of them ever offering even minimal service that could compete with cell prices is laughable.

Dan66
@pacbell.net

Dan66

Anon

A LOCAL Cellular PLAN is MUCH Better

If you get a local cell plan, it'll be either $17-19, call unlimited locally. $5 with all the "taxes" charges, etc.. IS NOT worth it. You couldn't even use a calling card on it, which I can use on a cell.
axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC

axus

Member

Re: A LOCAL Cellular PLAN is MUCH Better

I've got a $7/mo local plan from Verizon with my DSL service, like the one described here for $10. Funny, I just got a telemarketer call for home financial services right after I started this post, those have been very infrequent with the "Do Not Call" registry. It's kind of useless, but its a cheap option for the alarm system.

With the fees/taxes, its been about $15/mo for the phone line.

Madness
Like a flea circus at a dog show
join:2000-01-05
Lynn, MA
·DSL EXTREME

Madness

Member

One Idea....

Could be a good use for one of those vintage, "non-dial" telephones that were originally used for manual service, "way-back-when." Hey, is anyone good w/ pulsing out "911" using the switchhook?

But in reality, yeah, call waiting, CID & voicemail (which are included w/ a cheap PAYG cellphone plan, even) add at least $15 more to that $5 plus $10-12 more for the taxes & fees.
ebubman
join:2002-01-17
Mechanicsburg, PA

ebubman

Member

Re: One Idea....

to verizon i can only say: BFD. this is precisely the haughty attitude that caused us to boot the verizon landline out the door about 7 years ago. the only---and i do mean only---regret is that we had not done it sooner.
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