They are not phasing out landlines, just copper POTS lines. Landlines still come in other forms, by way of fiber or coax. The cost of installing and maintaining copper wires, 1 pr from your house to the switching station, where it is converted to fiber anyway, is very high. The only advantage of a POTS line is that it goes to a fixed location, which can be easily located by the 911 system. All other phone connections are VOIP. The phone or IP address must offer a location, ether by a connected GPS (most cell phones) or by a firmware programmed into the phone. A hi rise bldg. with 600 POTS lines needs a 600 pr cable to serve it all the way back to the exchange. With VOIP needs only 1 fiber cable. If you have a new subdivision that has FTTH (fiber to the home) that has 1000 homes, current regulations require the POTS carrier to provide copper pair, even though few if any will use them. Lots of money installed for few users. The reason to change the regulations is so if every on the block has some source of internet service, byway of fiber, coax or wireless, and you still use a POTS line and the 100 pr cable fails on your street, they do not have to replace the cable, just put fiber in an a VOIP phone or VOIP to POTS converter. I like POTS lines, but times change & so does equipment. Robert KD5YVQ
From: BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> On Behalf Of Chris Medlin via BVARC Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2024 1:39 PM To: bvarc@bvarc.org Cc: Chris Medlin <ctmed...@outlook.com> Subject: [BVARC] the phase out of landline phone service I heard this story in the news this week.. that landline phones were being phased out.. that cellular is king. and even though I haven't had a home landline in years, I do know the power of having one in times of infrastructural crisis. so this story just adds that extra validation of the importance of Ham Radio in the event of infrastructure outage. When all else fails, Ham Radio. <https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/02/dont-let-them-drop-us-landline- users-protest-att-copper-retirement-plan/> "Don't let them drop us!" Landline users protest AT&T copper retirement plan | Ars Technica Enjoy! 73 Chris/AC5CM
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