On Thursday, April 24, 2014 6:17:15 PM UTC-4, Robert Green wrote:
"CRNG" wrote in message



stuff snipped



I live in a rural area and around here we consider a dial-tone to be a

miracle. In this state the utilities own the Public Utilities

Commission.



It's that way in almost every state. Here in the DC area Verizon is

actively working to convert all their dial tone/copper wire customers to

FIOS. I've told them repeatedly I don't want a phone line that can't

support a dial up modem, that isn't regulated by the public service

commission, that runs out of battery power in an emergency and that depends

on the stability of the Verizon computer network.



http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/lo...Say-They-Felt-

Pressured-Into-Fios-235098041.html



http://tinyurl.com/n3xgwvp



I'm with you - the sound of a dial tone is a miracle. When all the

cellphones went out in the DC area on 9/11, the landlines kept on truckin'.

I assume that the VOIP service will crash pretty much the same way when

everyone gets on their phone in an emergency all at the same time. It's

really a public safety issue but since the PSC has been "captured" by the

companies they regulate they don't care. They're hastening the destruction

of the copper phone network that has demonstrated far greater overall

reliability than any of its replacement technologies. That's progress, I

guess. )-:


The big problem is the cost of maintaining that whole separate POTS
infrastructure, the hundreds of millions of miles of wire cable strung
along poles being the major portion of it. IDK what the experiences
have been of the vast majority of consumers who have switched over to
VOIP services. And there are a whole host of those services, ranging
from Telcos and cable companies, which are at the top of the heap,
charging the most and having the best quality and reliability,
down to $25 a year services, like MajicJack, which are at the bottom.
But I think the problem is that on that cost curve there are VOIP
solutions that provide acceptable service at rates at a small fraction
of what it will cost to maintain copper to the homes out there.
When that was the only way to do voice, it made a lot of sense.
Today when that's pretty much all it can do and for 95% of the people
there are other more cost effective solutions, it's on it's way out.







One good thing about being one of the last of the dinosaur dial-up guys is

that with the exodus of subscribers from copper phone lines, there's hardly

*ever* any crosstalk on the lines these says. The tech told me I had the

only dial tone on a 50 pair trunk cable. It's lonely at the top (and

bottom).



FWIW, the Feds probably want everyone to switch to VOIP so they can more

easily monitor everyone's phone conversations.



Give me that old time religion, give me that old time religion, give me that

old time religion, it's good enough for me!



--

Bobby G.