The end of POTS?

[MMikeJBenN27]

Now I am paying over $90.00 a month, but I do not want VOIP, as the internet is not confidential, plus, I may not be able to use my dial telephones.  I have a small collection, and I use them, so the $90.00+ is worth it to me.  I do not like being tracked/be listened to by hackers.

Mike

[dsk]

They have already dropped the copper lines in many areas, and uses lots of money to remove the copper lines and poles.
My wife's parents are now loosing internet on copper wire, ADSL and is offered a solution using the 4G net on mobile.

I do not like this!

dsk

[Jim Stettler]

I use cable and my neighbor still has his copper line.

Century link is my provider. About 4-5 years ago they brought fiber throughout the neighborhood.
The fiber for our houses is coiled around the pole on the back corner of the properties..
Jim

[19and41]

I gave up landline phone service years ago.  I now pay $60/mo.  for internet and $10.84 for monitored phone service with OOMA.

[shadow67]

I was just informed by AT&T that the home telephone line I have had for 20 years will need to be transferred to their fiber VoIP service. They say they are decommissioning the copper in my neighborhood now that fiber is available. I have no choice in the matter. If I decline to transfer the number, my POTS will be disconnected regardless.

[poplar1]

I was just informed by AT&T that the home telephone line I have had for 20 years will need to be transferred to their fiber VoIP service. They say they are decommissioning the copper in my neighborhood now that fiber is available. I have no choice in the matter. If I decline to transfer the number, my POTS will be disconnected regardless.

Which state?

[MMikeJBenN27]

Wow.  Disgusting that they can do that

[Babybearjs]

lucky for me, I'm in a mobile home park and there is only copper here... fiber in outside and available IF the park is willing to pay for the upgrade...

[countryman]

I'm living on the outskirt of a bigger German city and Telekom pushed me into VOIP years ago, although their "last mile" is still copper.
POTS also would be available, but not combined with any internet service.
I got myself a rotary-friendly router and started experimenting with a couple old phones I had. That's actually how I started collecting...

[tubaman]

I was just informed by AT&T that the home telephone line I have had for 20 years will need to be transferred to their fiber VoIP service. They say they are decommissioning the copper in my neighborhood now that fiber is available. I have no choice in the matter. If I decline to transfer the number, my POTS will be disconnected regardless.

This will happen to us all at some point as the drive is towards fibre internet. I'd actually be pleased if it was happening where I live as currently we are stuck on a VDSL internet service with no sign of full fibre coming in the foreseeable future. At 40Mbps it's perfectly useable, but looks very slow compared with the nearby city that has full fibre to all properties.

[19and41]

The change to fiber is financially advantageous ti the provider, which means that they will inevitably move toward it.  They  can't afford to have sentiment deter them from providing the same service to all their customers.  At least we do have means of using our instruments in the new systems.  That's better than the no choice option given to radio owners in some countries these days, where the stations have been closing over the years.

[MMikeJBenN27]

In many cases, we can NOT use our phones the way they are intended, the Internet can be hacked, meaning that bored rich teenagers can listen in on our phone calls, we have to have backup batteries, or else we will have no phone service during a power failure, and we CAN stop the move to fibre if enough of us band together and fight it.  I don't care about "Maximum possible profits by any means necessary".  They are supposed to serve US, we should not have to serve THEM.

Mike

[tubaman]

In many cases, we can NOT use our phones the way they are intended, the Internet can be hacked, ...

This is technically correct but if you take sensible precautions (patched OS with updated anti-virus etc) it's unlikely to happen. I think you'll find a lot of phone calls already go the VOIP route once they reach the exchange irrespective of whether they start as POTS at your house.

[MMikeJBenN27]

What you are talking about sounds like it is for cell phones.  I am talking about HOME phones, specifically rotary-dial phones.  There is no "os", or is there?

Mike 

[countryman]

It's much easier to listen into analog calls, not to mention party lines in the olden days...