AT&T has Abandoned their Copper Phone Lines

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I put in a service request last week because of static on my land line. The technician came out today and said the static is due to squirrel bites letting water get in between the copper line and the insulation. Keep in mind that it is THEIR LINE not mine. He said AT&T had stopped doing maintenance on copper lines ever since they installed fiber optic lines throughout the neighborhood. He said if I want the static to go away that I need to switch to the fiber optic line by opening an internet account coupled with phone service. I said I already have the internet provided by Comcast. He then suggested I go ahead and pay the install fees for AT&T fiber optic internet service and then later on cancel the internet service and keep the phone service on the fiber optic line. I thought you guys might like to hear a story about corporate red tape at its finest.
 
I finally gave up on our land line from it constantly needing a service call due to humming and generally poor sound quality. I converted it to a cellular line which ended up being louder, clearer, cheaper, portable. Been happy with it. Does AT&T offer that in your area?
 
You mean have my land line phone connected to a cell phone service ? I don't know how that can be done.
 
If you like your copper landline for whatever reason, complain to your Public Utilities Commission.

"Metro Teleconnect" does those attic cellphone things that power your landline with cell service. It was marketed here to those who didn't want to pay their old phone bill off.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
If you like your copper landline for whatever reason, complain to your Public Utilities Commission.



+1; they may be 'required' to provide some types of service especially if you pay a 911 fee; In Maine where I had a seasonal phone, I had the service put on hold in the winter, but the phone was still able to make 911 calls.

My parents went through the same nonsense in VA where they were offering 'wireless' home service. (not cell phone)
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Landlines have gone the same way as dodo birds.


And yet nearly every phone call uses them....
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
You mean have my land line phone connected to a cell phone service ? I don't know how that can be done.


Mine is a little cellular unit that sits on the counter and plugs into the electric outlet and has battery backup in case of power outage. You plug your existing home phone into the phone jack on the unit instead of phone jack in the wall. What I liked about it was the home phone now has caller ID and long distance capability that I would have had to pay extra for on the old land line plan
 
Originally Posted By: tom slick
You could get something like Ooma and keep your phones and phone number.

This is what I did about seven years ago and it is still working great. I have an Obihai device and I ported my number to Google Voice. I buy 911 and CNAM service from Anveo for about $1 a month. No issues.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
You mean have my land line phone connected to a cell phone service ? I don't know how that can be done.

Sprint Phone Connect was/is one such service. There are others.

But really, you should do your own landline with an Ooma or Obihai device. There's no reason to pay someone more than a few bucks a month for this if you already have Internet service.
 
The FCC has recognized that technology is changing and copper wire based land lines are no longer something they should require the phone companies to provide.

I live in the country and we have decades old copper wiring that often has problems and needs repair. I do not think it's sustainable by the phone company and frustrating for me. I have two lines bonded together to get me 4Mb.

So if the carriers are to move forward they need to be free of maintaining old copper wiring.
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
But really, you should do your own landline with an Ooma or Obihai device. There's no reason to pay someone more than a few bucks a month for this if you already have Internet service.


So I would then need to get an ObiHai device and then connect it to my ISP modem, correct ?
 
I don't think the correct term is actually "abandomed".

I would probably get in quite a bit of trouble if I went outside and started salvaging the copper.
grin.gif
 
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Landlines have gone the same way as dodo birds.


And yet nearly every phone call uses them....


True. If you place a call from a cellphone in San Francisco to someone in Salt Lake City, UT, the call isn't streaming from cell tower to cell tower hundreds of miles away. It connects to the wired telecom system and it does the same thing even if your calling your neighbor, even if your both using a cell phone.
 
ATT asked PUCO, the public utilities commission of Ohio, if they could abandoned the old copper phone system in rural areas as ATT says maintaining them is expensive and many customers ditched their land line in favor of cellphones.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Landlines have gone the same way as dodo birds.


And yet nearly every phone call uses them....


True. If you place a call from a cellphone in San Francisco to someone in Salt Lake City, UT, the call isn't streaming from cell tower to cell tower hundreds of miles away. It connects to the wired telecom system and it does the same thing even if your calling your neighbor, even if your both using a cell phone.


Cell towers aren't using the two wire lines that used to go into everyone's home. They are multiplexed in one way or another. Not really a direct comparison.
 
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