Why the Landline Phone Will Never Go Away

[question everything]

Despite its demotion to a means of harassment, though, the landline refuses to die. According to a 2017 U.S. government survey, about 44% of households still own traditional phones, down from 53% three years before—but still much higher than, say, the share of those buying vinyl records, another cultish throwback.

For many, the reason is pragmatic. Cell service is spotty in large, rural stretches of the country and even the hills of Los Angeles. Rocky elevation disrupts communication with cell towers, which are also often banned in environmentally protected areas. You can rely on a landline when the power is cut, or during an emergency like a hurricane that causes cell blackouts. And cellphones offer no real escape from harassment and distraction; we’re all being beckoned all the time, everywhere—if not by an actual voice on our cellphones, then by texts, emails, swipes on dating apps.

(snip)

Consumer Reports found in 2013 that modern cordless phones provide sound quality superior to the best smartphones, with minimal interference.

That nostalgia for the landline has sparked a niche industry. Oldphoneworks.com brings in nearly $40,000 a month refurbishing and selling vintage handsets to anyone looking for a throwback flourish (the set director who worked on “Stranger Things” is a regular customer). The once-ubiquitous Western Electric 302, conceived by celebrated designer Henry Dreyfuss, now fetches $450. His Princess phone design, a ’60s icon, costs a more reasonable $180.

More..

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-landline-phone-will-never-go-away-1530812621 (paid subscription)




Western Electric 302

A refurbished piece of history that will last as long as
granddad’s phone did. $450, oldphoneworks.com

[phylny]

1. I wish I could get a modern cordless phone

that rings like they used to instead of the sound ours make that makes our dogs howl.

[lamsmy]

2. It depends

Here in Africa landline penetration is tiny (and shrinking) and service is horrible. Everybody, even in remote villages, use mobile phones.

[question everything]

4. Obvioulsy there is a need for an infrasturctue to be in place

and starting from scratch is difficult and expensive.

But here in the U.S. we have had the lands for more than 100 years..

And.. welcome to DU!

[malaise]

3. Landlines are all that work after a serious hurricane etc

because of underground cables.

[virgogal]

17. Bt will a cordless phone work if the electric power goes out?

[malaise]

18. No but most of us have the old one stored away

I actually cleaned ours when I heard the first TS had formed.

[virgogal]

20. Thanks---I have an old old 500 set too---good to keep around.

[Kaleva]

58. I have an inexpensive corded phone in my home as a backup to the cordless phone

It's in a drawer of my nightstand next to my bed.

[malaise]

63. I took it out of the loser and cleaned and disinfected it

It's ready for the hurricane season and any associated power cuts. I actually plugged it in and checked it out.

[indigovalley]

68. Old non-cordless phones won't work everywhere anymore

I used to have a back-up non-cordless phone for when the electricity went out in thunderstorms. Now my landline phone service runs through the all-in-one cable modem/wireless router provided by my cable company. So if the electric goes off, I can only use that old non-wireless phone for about 4 hours total--the battery life of the installed battery in the combo modem/router.

This worries me as I have a medical condition and if the electric went out for a longer period of time (which it has occasionally) I will have very limited and unreliable landline service. The cable guy who installed the new system (which happened when I upgraded cable service) told me that most phone companies will be going to this type of system and will not have their own powered phone lines anymore.

[malaise]

72. Our old phone still works

Thankfully

[Tribalceltic]

93. Consider an UPS Uninteruptable Power supple

even a cheap one should give you days of backup power. Also good for charging small things in an emergency .

[csziggy]

74. No - that is why my desk phone is corded

We have a base unit in the kitchen with three cordless handsets scattered around the house, but I prefer the corded desk phone - the sound is better, I don't have to worry about the batteries going bad, and it is here where my Rolodex is so I can call the electric co-op when the power goes out.

[TimeToGo]

23. An also because

Cell towers require electricity and the generators don't seem to work well, or they run out of fuel, or . . .

Also, there is a high demand for communication in and after an emergency.

[dixiegrrrrl]

85. Yep. that's why we have one of each.

Had a pretty good thunderstorm last week. Power off, for almost an hour, which is rare here.
Trees and cell phone towers went down, took 2 days to hook them back up.
Land line worked great. so did dsl.

[MicaelS]

5. They certainly will go away...

If the telecom companies refuse to support them anymore. It takes lots of money to maintain landlines, and if the costs get too high, they will abandon them.

[spooky3]

10. That's been happening for years in the DC metro area.

Verizon stopped maintaining landlines and makes it really difficult for customers to get help, which has driven them to cells and VOIP. And lines were buried only in some communities.

Since Nomobo doesn’t work with landlines, the increasing number of illegal spam calls has also driven people away from landlines.

[question everything]

27. Someone recently commented that only seniors use landline

hence all the spam about "regarding your recent inquiry" when none was made..

Thus, one would hope that grey power would prevail.

[Hekate]

31. Last year I was dismayed to read that a major landline company was stopping maintenance...

I was sorry when Ma Bell got broken up, and that was decades ago. By now, nobody but us oldsters remembers when a public utility was a public utility, considered part of the commons, considered valuable for its own sake. FDR set up the Tennesee Valley Authority, the Rural Electrification Project, to bring rural people into the modern age. Who in government would even try that today?

Yes we do have a landline, but because it is a cordless phone system it did not work during our major regional fire last year. My husband has an old telephone that in decades past we used to be able to plug in during emergencies, always knowing the telephone wires were being maintained and were independent of the electrical system.

Brave new world.

[RandomAccess]

43. I get my phone service thru Charter (Spectrum now)

along with my internet and TV. No physical landlines involved.

It's not attached to a smartphone, but a nice desk phone with answering machine, and 3 cordless phones in different parts of the house, which means the whole thing can be used as a telecom. Oh, it also has call block which is GREAT. It's a Panasonic I got on Amazon. LOVE it. I'll never give up "landlines" unless I'm forced to.

[radius777]

77. Your service is VoIP, not the POTS landline

the article is referring to.

Both are home phones, but the underlying technology is different.

[RandomAccess]

79. Yes, that's what I was trying to convey

Thanks for putting the jargon to it.

BUT, it still plugs into the wall.

[radius777]

82. Not your fault, the premise of the WSJ article is flawed

because it presents a false choice between the old-school POTS landline home phone vs cell phones without mentioning VoIP home phones.

[HAB911]

109. Lots of variations

POTS circuit switched
POTS over VOIP
POTS over copper
POTS over fiber


I was in a battery store the other day and some guy was ranting about how now he is responsible for his Fios battery backup and how it didn't used to be that way, he was not a happen camper.

[csziggy]

76. Here in my still semi-rural neighborhood you get DSL and landline

Over the same copper (though it is fiber optic to the switch box down the street). East of the ridge our farm is on there are no cell towers for miles so cell service is spotty or non-existence. I get poor cell service outside my house and none inside.

Here is a map with the cell towers:
http://www.cellreception.com/towers/towers.php?city=tallahassee&state_abr=fl
Put Tallahassee in the lower left corner and check out the lack of cell towers between where Centerville is marked and Miccosukee.

So it will be a long time before the CenturyLink can stop providing landlines where I live.

[Blue_true]

83. Or the service will keep increasing in price.

When the hurricane hit Florida last fall, pretty much all cell service stayed up in my area, even as power was knocked out for many people. I went away from landline about 7 years ago and haven't missed anything.

[GoCubsGo]

6. The sound quality is the main reason I keep my land line.

I can use my cordless landline phone in any room in my house without losing sound quality. I can't say that about cell phones.

As for cellphones offering "no real escape' from distractions and harassment, sure there is. It's called the "OFF" switch. If you can't put the damn thing down and walk away from it for even a short period of time, perhaps it is time to seek some professional help, as you are most likely addicted to it.

[question everything]

22. Right you are. I was talking to reps of Comcast the other day

and they tried to sell me something for my "mobile" and I stopped them in mid sentence: I don't use "smarphone;" have a flip phone with pay as you go and use it only when I am out of the house if I need to call home.

[Kahuna7]

38. Same here. I need my VOIP phone for business calls. nt

[rufus dog]

7. Mine is free

And I might get rid of it.

VOIP service, when I went to cancel they gave it to me at no charge, just had to give up multiple numbers and lines.

Problem is the calls/messages go unanswered. Doesn't happen often, but about once a quarter someone leaves a message that should be answered but none of us check the messages.

[nini]

8. I keep mine for 9-11 and business calls

I don't give my cell number out to most companies I do business with. I haven't answered my landline in over 10 years.. but it's there for all that other stuff.

I know you can setup your cell number for 9-11 and I've done that too but just in case I have both. The older you get the more important that becomes

[nolabels]

80. The next 9-11 is just a couple of months away!

[nini]

97. LOL

yep.. I'll leave my post the way it is so people will get yours

[Zoonart]

9. I have to keep my land line.

I live 60 miles north of NYC and can't get a cell signal inside my house, I have to walk out into the woods. SERIOUSLY not Siberia.

[CloudWatcher]

25. have internet?

If you've got a good internet connection, ask your wireless provider about giving you a micro-cell to put in your home. AT&T was happy to give me one (after signing something that said I'd stay with them for a year or so or return it). No extra charge.

Though it does suck that my cell-data goes over my ISP connection. So I pay AT&T and my ISP to carry the same data.

But .. it's better than having to drive into town to get cell service.

[Zoonart]

37. Never heard of this.

I will give it a try. I just love DUers.

[mbusby]

41. we tried a micro-cell....

...but could never get it to work, even after talking with support for suggestions. We are in an AT&T cell phone black hole. Usually have to be near a window or outside to get minimal signal strength.

[CloudWatcher]

52. ouch ...

I've had one for maybe 10 years now. It has to be near a window (for the GPS to figure out where it is). And it totally died once on us ... they replaced it for free.

It works well enough, though voice-call quality isn't very good. If it's a long call I'll usually suggest we switch over to a land-line. I'm not sure if the poor quality is inherent in using a micro-cell or due to our ISP being run by Larry-Moe-and-Curly.

Btw if you have any signal outside your house, there are products that just relay/amplify the signal between inside/outside (designed for buildings in downtown areas). I've always wanted to try one, you might have some luck. They appear to be reasonable in price for a business, but a bit expensive for home use. But depending on how desperate you are ... ))

[mwooldri]

45. Also a lot of smartphones support WiFi calling.

Depends on your phone and carrier. Most iPhones will do WiFi calling on T-Mobile and Sprint.

We had the Sprint microcell... but when we upgraded the phones, the newer phones seemed to ignore the microcell. However enabling WiFi calling was our workaround.

Shame we have a choice of Spectrum or Spectrum for Internet. AT&T will gladly offer us their finest dialup service...

[Kaleva]

60. My landline phone company is my internet provider.

[radius777]

78. that's a VoIP home phone, not a POTS landline

home phone that the article refers to.

[Kaleva]

111. My interent comes into the home on a seperate line

And i just called my phone company, which also provides my internet, and the lady said they do not offer VoIP.

[radius777]

12. VoIP is the future for home phones

as the technology, delivery and reliability improves.

POTS only benefit is simplicity and reliability at this current time, but VoIP will get there at some point and then POTS will have no purpose.

[DavidDvorkin]

15. Yes.

[PSPS]

19. Not really

If power goes out, so does your Internet. No VoIP without Internet.
If power goes out or a tower blows over, so does cell service. No cell phone without cell service.

A landline, on the other hand, requires no internet or power at all at your telephone. The central office has diesel generators that will power all the phones they serve for at least a month.

[virgogal]

21. Beware of the cordless landline phones---they need power.(See post #18)

[PSPS]

28. A cordless phone isn't the same as a wired phone like shown in the OP.

[virgogal]

92. I know that----but you still need a modular,old fashioned phone to plug

into the wall jack if the electric power goes.

[SoCalNative]

34. Most of us landline users also keep an old school

non-cordless phone around in case of emergencies for just that reason.

[sinkingfeeling]

70. Yep, still have my Princess phone's from late 1960s. They still work and

we're built by Bell Labs.

[CloudWatcher]

29. A month? Not in my experience.

Maybe more like a week. I lost power for several days (giant snow storm), and by the end of it we had lost land-line power too. Was not a nice feeling being trapped (6' of snow unplowed on the road) and without phone service to call for help if there was an emergency.

We're up in the mountains, no diesel generator on our circuit.

[Blue_true]

87. Do you have a snowmobile? nt

[CloudWatcher]

98. No snowmobile here.

We've lived here over 20 years now, and it's just been the once that we had over 6' of snow in just a few days. Although ... I have been keeping my eye on satellite phones for a while now. One of those could be used for emergencies of many kinds and they're getting small enough to take with you on long hikes and bike rides

[fescuerescue]

48. A few days

Most CO's keep enough diesel for a few days. Large CO's, a week.

But they do have contracts for emergency, priority diesel delivery, which works assuming that the infrastructure is intact enough to permit fuel delivery (roads, free travel etc)

The largest btw, in large cities utillize turbine generators, which rely on basically jet fuel. But essentially the same concept.

[radius777]

56. You are correct at this current time,

but the future is broadband internet as the communication backbone.

Fiber optic trunks will be run everywhere, to hopefully where a home's VoIP service is fully digital with dedicated VoIP phones that are fed directly from the outside line, rather that through the rickety ad-hoc setup we currently have that is dependent upon the customer's own internet setup.

Power is another issue, but phones don't require much power, and there would need to be a system wide method of dealing with this.

Basically, VoIP's technology is far superior to POTS, but VoIP needs to get to the point where it has the same simplicity and reliability when it comes to basic/emergency functions that POTS was designed to have.

[Blue_true]

86. Have you seen cell towers? Those things are monstrous.

Something may blow off one, but I don't see one falling down, that would be like a skyscraper coming down.

[Blue_true]

88. My sense is soon towers will be providing cell and Internet.

If I just use my cellphone for calling, I have 3-5 days of power in the phone. I think some cell towers (the big installations) have their own emergency power sources that can power them until power is restored. I honestly have not had a single need in 7 years than a landline would have solved when my cell could not.

[mbusby]

42. Agree...

...we have had Vonage for several years and are never going back.

[DBoon]

13. local neighborhood group opposes towers

because they are unaesthetic

This means our only high quality means of communication is landline. I use the home phone for work purposes and poor cell quality means my company-provided cell phone is useless

[kimbutgar]

14. I keep my landline and kept my mothers line since she passed

If I have important business I only use my landline. Sometimes I forget to charge my cell phone. I will not be giving it up until I have to.

[JenniferJuniper]

16. If you have a phone job interview

for God's sake, find a landline.

Last week I phone screened three people on mobiles who had reception problems during the calls. One had to be rescheduled until the interviewee could find a landline because I could only make out every other word, despite three call back attempts.

[question everything]

26. That's a great advice! Candidates hould bw advised about this ahead of time!

[JenniferJuniper]

36. They are reminded by our recruiting department but

a certain age demographic often ignores that advice.

Won't stereotype by naming the group, but let's face it, slightly older folks are used to and more often have direct access to landlines.

[fescuerescue]

49. That age demographic doesnt have access

to POTS line for the most part.

[crazycatlady]

96. A lot of people don't have access to a landline

If I needed one for a job interview, I'd have to drive 2 hours to have access to one. When the majority of US households do not have a landline, requiring one for a job interview seems that you are limiting your pool of employees to older ones only.

For me a landline is an extra bill for something I'd never use.

[JenniferJuniper]

99. It's not required.

However if you want to be phone screened for a job as opposed to flying 1000+ miles on your own dime for an exploratory interview, you do need to be heard.

[crazycatlady]

108. I do phone interviews all the time

And I've been on both ends of them. I've never once used a landline and if a call drops, one of us will just immediately call the other person back. It is really no big deal.

[JenniferJuniper]

110. Depends on where you are I guess.

Huge deal in some areas.

[HipChick]

39. Very good point....I had a phone screen last week, with a major tech company...

I was the only one on a landline, and it had to be rescheduled..

[crazycatlady]

95. There's alternatives to landlines

There's things such as video calling (Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, etc) that can be done through a computer.

I know very few people in my industry (where you're required to relocate at the drop of a hat) who have a landline. I was one of the first cell only people.

[CrispyQ]

24. I love my landline.

What a lovely classic, the phone in the image. Although I like the freedom of a cordless with a headset. I've cooked many meals while talking to friends on the phone.

[bucolic_frolic]

30. I'm ready to ditch them both

hardly use the phone. Keep the landline off the hook so it doesn't ring all day and night.

[Coventina]

62. I feel you. I don't have a smartphone, so I rarely use my cell phone.

I keep it on silent, mostly, if it's even charged.

I also rarely answer my landline, unless the person leaving a message is someone I know. (I have an old-school answering machine so I can screen my calls).

But, I'm an extreme introvert, and don't like talking to people in general.

[bucolic_frolic]

81. I'd offer to Skype with you

but my sympathy pleas to acquaintances at the local bar for visiting me in my agoraphobic lifestyle are underway, so it would have to wait awhile.

[Coventina]

84. !

[amuse bouche]

32. My landline is a Magic Jack

5 years of service anywhere for $99. Can't beat it

I rarely use it because I'm not a phone person. I would rather text on my cell

I rarely get any unwanted calls. My number doesn't seem to be listed. Love that

[LiberalArkie]

33. And don't forget that after Katrina, they were the only phones that worked.

Of course standing on a milk crate to talk on the phone was difficult and having the change is sometimes difficult.. But they work.

[Freddie]

35. We kept our VOIP

Part of the Comcast package and too lazy to change. Plus my house has "dead spots" so the calling is much more reliable. Main reason is I have a beloved 90 year old aunt that only has our landline # and I don't want to confuse her.

[CaptainTruth]

40. The only reason I have a land line is because I have DSL.

I don't have a phone plugged in & I can't even tell you the number, I've never used it in the 6+ years I've lived in this house.

[Blue_true]

89. With 5G coming along, DSL likely will start getting phased out.

Computers are going to behave like smartphones, connect to a service tower. I travel around and my cell seemlessly connects to a tower without effort on my part - soon Internet via a computer will be like that. I honestly think that people who are wedded to landlines are falling behind. In big cities, even tunnels support cell service, those used to be enormous dead zones, as were overpasses.

[pansypoo53219]

44. we have a landline for security. upgraded to digital landline???

i just killed my rummage sale touchtone beige phone. well. only $1. tried the rotary I put on ebay. only got a busy, so not compatible?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

71. Only touchtone phones are compatible with digital modem services.

Plenty of touch-tones are available such as this one for $27:
https://www.abt.com/product/18680/Panasonic-Integrated-Corded-Black-Telephone-KXTSC11B.html

or, it will work with any cordless home phone set such as these:
https://www.abt.com/product/112064/Panasonic-Metallic-Black-Expandable-Cordless-Phone-With-Answering-Machine-KXTGD530M.html

I've heard there are adapters made for rotary-to-touchtone if your prefer the rotary.

.........

[no_hypocrisy]

46. Landlines working during a storm

It depends. During Superstorm Sandy, my father lost power and his phone. Why: FIOS with its fiberoptics. But 15 miles away, I drove home to use my phone which was working. Why: copper wires.

Unfortunately the phone company decided to abandon servicing and maintaining the copper wires and I'm now with FIOS as it was the only option to having a landline. So far, no storm and no problem.

[Rebl2]

47. Won't get

rid of mine anytime soon. At least in Missouri if you use a cellphone and call police or ambulance they need an address because they can’t tell by a cellphone where you are. I’ve also found talking to a couple friends on their cellphone they cut in and out. I’ll only get rid of it if forced to.

[xmas74]

106. You should be able to go to your local dispatch center

And fill out a formal linking your physical address to your cell number. When I dispatched in Missouri we used to encourage people to do this, especially those with small children or medical issues.

It's a pain but a minor one and it's a good idea.

[TNNurse]

50. We have a landline because out in the country

where we live the cell service sucks. Maybe because our community has "gully" in its name. My husband had to explain to our 25yo great-nephew how a landline works so he could help his grandmother. Sure they had one when he was a child but no more. He is pretty sharp, a lineman for the power company but did not know about phones.

[Archae]

51. I have a landline that I use almost exclusively.

I do have a cell phone for if the power goes out, I would lose my landline.

[PoliticAverse]

53. Sorry, but I don't miss the sound "quality" of the old phones with carbon microphones. n/t

[localroger]

54. Got rid of mine about ten years ago

I was a big holdout, mainly because of 9/11 service, but the bottom line was that they couldn't keep the damn thing working reliably. The cable is dragging the ground in the service alley behind my house and they haven't made an effort to fix that since Katrina. So IF your landline is well maintained, then yes it's much better than cell service -- but that's going to get spottier and spottier as they don't bother to do maintenance. Eventually it's going to be like the third world, where instead of wiring the whole country for landlines they mostly skipped landlines completely, deploying wireless towers instead.

[Blue_true]

90. Wireless towers is were things are headed.

And that will make the urban-rural service divide worse. I have never been in a city or surburb where my cell does not work, it even works in tunnels now, has been for a while.

[Pluvious]

55. FWIW - Here's how I converted my Landline to free phone service via Google Voice

BTW, I am at risk of no phone service if no Internet.
But then I have the cell phone, so should be fine.

Here is my adventure:
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/1018934497

Cheers

[Books_Tea_Alone]

57. In the middle of densely populated northern NJ..

I do not have cell service in my house. Outside on the back deck or on the front lawn I do - but in the house no service. It is incredibly frustrating to have to call people back on my landline when they call me at home. I have Verizon and live at the bottom of two steep hills!

[FuzzyRabbit]

59. Landline reliability and sound quality

is far, far superior to cell phones. I had real landline phone service for 70 years since I was born, until 2 years ago. Never once was there any problem.

Sound quality was always good, until people started using cell phones and now I have to ask them to repeat over and over because of the terrible quality of cell phones and cell phone service. When everyone used real phones ("landline" phones) everyone always had good quality sound.

Even in storms the phone worked. When the electric power was out the phones still worked because of the way the phone wires were networked.

I have an old Western Electric 302 (like in the picture in the OP) and it still works as well as the day it was built in 1942. Will your cell phone still be working in 74 years?

[EllieBC]

67. I use my landline for calls because of sound quality too.

If I'm going to be having a phone conversation longer than 10 minutes I prefer landline. I hate having to say, "I'm sorry what was that?" over and over.

[blueinredohio]

61. I keep mine for business purposes.

Nothing aggravates me more than going through a store and hearing people's business. Let them do it at home.

[GetRidOfThem]

64. Let me ask you a question:

When was the last time you had a long, insightful conversation on a cell phone?

I love my land line. I am not a Luddite, I build my own computers, have countless tablets, and use the Note 8 as my main cell.

Whenever I call a friend to reconnect, and have a long conversation, it is on the land line...

[LeftInTX]

103. My "landline" is stuck to the wall

I have to stand to use the darn thing.

I keep it for emergencies etc.

(It used to have a wireless handset, but it died)

I talk on my cell phone.

[El Supremo]

65. I changed to an AT&T Wireless Home Phone a few years ago.

You can use land phones and your existing phone jacks. And it was less than half the cost of my Century Link land line and with more features. I kept my old number.

[Cryptoad]

66. Got good Wifi and smartphone

dont need anything else.....

[Blue_true]

91. Same here. My cell is flawless. I don't understand the sound quality complaints.

Never had an issue with my cell.

[sinkingfeeling]

69. I keep my landline to provide a phone number to people and groups I never

want to talk with. It has a built in answering machine so I never answer it.

[left-of-center2012]

73. Some home medic alert systems require a landline

Also, without electricity to charge my cell phone,
the non-replaceable battery eventually dwindles to zip,
unless I keep it turned off.

[llmart]

75. I still have my landline.

I won't give it up until I absolutely have to. I may be dead by the time they phase out landlines

I have a pay as you go smartphone and rarely use it. I keep putting minutes on it and never use them. It's a Tracfone and you can't just have talk and text which cheeses me off since I have no intention of doing research on the internet on a tiny keyboard and don't need data. This is only the second cell phone I've owned in 20 years. The first one was a flip phone that was pay as you go and the minutes rolled over until they were used up and then you bought more. Now I haven't been able to find something for a smartphone tht is similar.

I have friends who only have cell phones and we have long conversations. Sometimes I get so fed up that the quality of the sound is awful and fades in and out if they walk to another part of the house. Or they're always saying, "I have to hang up since my phone's about to die."

[The Genealogist]

94. Among the things I collect are phones

I have a large number of old phones, mostly rotary. I do have a land line, but the rotary phones don't work on it any more. If the local cell phone network were to go down, I can rely on the landline, even if my cordless phone doesn't work--I can use one of my old school touch-tone phones.

[MurrayDelph]

100. When I lived in LA

I was in the friggin' middle of the San Fernando Valley (near the Budweiser Brewery), and my company-issued cellphone did not work inside my house (This was true both for T-Mobile and when they moved to AT&T).

I still own that house, but live on the Oregon coast now, and being a belt-and-suspenders retired IT guy, keep my cellphone, landline and Internet, and television services separate, figuring that I might lose one, but not all at the same time.

Next week, I shop for a portable generator.

[Lifelong Protester]

101. Cell service is spotty here.

And ( five blocks away) at work, people are always going outside or near an open window to ge their phone to work.

[CozyMystery]

102. Where I live, in rural western PA, there are no landlines.

But we do have phone service available from the cable company, and barely decent cell phone service. I cancelled the cable company phone because the service was less reliable than that of our cell phones.

[hunter]

104. AT&T takes care of the copper wire pair that carries my internet...

... but they are not my internet service provider.

These lines work just as well for plain old telephone service (POTS); the traditional "landline."

I used to have an internet connection via an "alarm line," which was a pair of wires leading directly to our phone company's central office and then on to my ISP. Pacific Bell didn't offer internet service to residential customers way back then, and they didn't even support 56k modems in our city. On a good day I'd get something around 24k on dial-up, something approaching 64k over the bare wire pair.

AT&T now converts all our neighborhood traffic to fiber optic digital at their neighborhood utility boxes, which are digital phone exchanges in themselves, machines that would have filled an entire building in the 1950s kept humming by four shifts of full time workers, but now fit in a little ultra-reliable box, small enough for one man to carry.

AT&T badgers customers to switch over to their "u-verse" but their copper wire pair hardware handles all legacy telephone services (alarm lines, independent internet service providers, ISDN, etc.) with about 13 cents worth of electronics per line.

I suppose I could do business with Comcast but they make AT&T look like saints.

[xmas74]

105. I've worked for a few work from home companies

Doing call center and sales jobs. Some demand as part of employment you have a classic landline, not a cell or a voip. It must be a phone that allows you to plug in a headset and all extras must be disconnected, especially call waiting and voice mail.
As those jobs become more popular you'll see a resurgence of landlines.

[MFM008]

107. I have both

Land line and cell phone.