Subscribe by EmailLandline phone use falling in favor of mobile phones
October 2, 2008 by Mark O'Neill |By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
The European Commission has released an interesting report which says that people in Europe are increasingly shunning the use of landline phones in their homes in favor of using only their mobile phones instead.
This is due to the ever-increasing costs of monthly line rentals. Many phone companies are realizing that the line rental costs are putting people off and this has sparked a price war between the various companies to see who can offer the better deal. But nevertheless, more and more people are apparently still turning away in favor of their mobiles.
I for one can see the financial advantages, but one downside to shunning a landline is that you won’t be able to take advantage of broadband Internet access in your area. Where I live, Deutsche Telekom offers your phone landline and the internet broadband together in one package - it can’t be split up. I imagine it’s the same deal elsewhere in the world, no matter what company you’re signed up with.
What about you? Have you given up your landline phone in favor of your mobile? If so, what advantages have you got out of it? Have you been able to get your Internet access separately? Do you see yourself going back to a landline phone in the future?
Cell phone popularity growing in Europe - Via Yahoo News
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Well, I guess it all depends on what services are offerend in your area.. while it’s true that DSL requires a landline to work, cable-based internet services can work independantly, even if you often have to subscribe to cable tv be able to get it.
I just moved last weekend. My internet is included with the rent and it is cable. I was paying 50 a month for my phone plus 40 a month for my internet. I killed my phone and will be using a cell on a prepaid card plan. I will be saving quite a bit in the process.
I understand that California was able to force its local telephone company to un-bundle DSL from phone service, but the rest of the US, as far as I know, is stuck being screwed.
Nope, AT&T is required by federal law to provide stand alone DSL. I have it (Florida), and several of my friends in other states have it. No phone line, and you can’t call the number they assigned (for account purposes). Just sweet sweet internet. I don’t even pay the service taxes and state fees, it’s just DSL
Oh, one more note, if you’re with Bellsouth (even though it switched to AT&T), and want stand alone DSL, it’s called Bundle 97. The code the operator can use is BUN97. If the operator is on top of the game though, just tell her stand alone dsl
In America lots of people under the age of 30 have already completely given up on landlines. In most areas you can easily get a cable modem without a landline, and usually, if you argue with your local telco, you can get DSL without a phone number. I haven’t lived in a house with a landline in about 5 years now.
AT&T also provides a new service called Uverse (a technlogical marvel by itself). This service will give you 400 channels of TV, high speed internet (1.5, 3.0, 6.0, and 10.0) and Uverse voice (VOIP) all without a dial tone. You can pick and choose between these services also.
Given I am only 21 I never got a landline. I just went out and got a cell.
I often think that it would be smarter to change to landline as it would be cheaper but with not knowing were I am going to be all the time and many company’s I need to call or might call me during the day having a cell phone lets them talk to me, not the answering machine ( unless I pass it to voice mail).
Also as stated above I use time warner cable and just get the internet.
Miss the cheep phone lines, but not looking back. Cell phones are just to nice.
never had a landline. the phone company made us have a phone when we got broadband, but it would cost us to make an outbound call. It was something like $5 a month for the bare bones service.
Now we just have cable TV/internet, with excellent results, through Insight. 10 mbps speed, which is easily the highest around here, and we could have 20 for an extra $10 a month.
I keep hearing that AT&T is supposed to give you unbundled DSL, but yet, every time I talk to them they seem to dodge that bullet. I do, however, have the most basic phone line I can get. Not that I use it… The phone number is forwarded to my cell phone at all times.
-Adam
Many phone companies are starting to open up to data only lines to provide DSL without phone. And with fiber optic cabling becoming more popular this will make it easier to pick and choose. One problem nobody mentions with getting rid of your landline (at least in the US) is E911. Cell phones take longer to provide a specific location, if they can at all, and the batteries/signal aren’t always reliable. Having the ability to reach 911 in an emergency is a big factor I think more people should consider/be aware of.
But cell phones are portable devices and you can dial 911 from any place. I don’t think you should install a landline just for emergency call. I think (don’t know for sure) that in US also cell phones provide a specific location.
I live in Bangalore,India and the pre-requisite for having a state-owned broadband connection is a fixed line. However, an interesting aspect is that the state owned connections are so cheap and better quality compared to the other private operators that one almost always goes for it. There are certain other helpline numbers that work only from a fixed line !
I live in the Philippines and we utilize celphones mostly for sms. But we still use landlines for voice calls. The rates are still cheaper on the landline.
Having only a mobile phone may be good enough, but it doesn’t hurt to have a landline though.
BTW, Can telemarketers reach you on your mobile?
In the uk cable can be split from the landline but not adsl. However, try doing anything financial without a fixed line. It’s really difficult to even get a passport if you can’t provide a landline telephone number. I have the barest of barebones landlines and hardly use it purely because my bank insisted I had to have a landline number when I opened the account.
The only possible drawback I can see to this is during a natural disaster, such as hurricanes, cellular towers are likely to go or be so congested you can’t make a call