How Soon Will Your Landline Be Obsolete?

Some commenters are not distinguishing between a VOIP landline and a POTS landline. They are DIFFERENT, you know. And, yes, POTS landlines are powered so that phone service isn't interrupted during a power outage. On the other hand, VOIP is disconnected during a power outage, unless you have a standby power supply.

As an alternative I mainly use Skype World Wide calling, for under $40.00 for 3 months. I can call almost any landline in any Country with no time restriction. This works for me as I call friends/Family around the world. Very happy with the service

I live in a semi-rural area in NH, and have very poor cell coverage. If they took away my landline, I would NOT have reliable phone coverage.

Over my cold dead body do they make me give up my landline. Landline is dependable. It works during a power outage when cell phones do not. I don't own a smart phone. I'm a senior on limited income that doesn't include a smart phone. I carry a cell phone with me when I'm out to have in emergencies; I pay $3/mo for my service. All you techies, enough.

I live in a mid-western - flatland - urban environment. I am a retiree with limited income so to make ends meet, I cut the cable, got Roku boxes for T.V. entertainment, switched to ATT fiber-300 for Internet service, and got a magic-jack for my home phone. I also have a cell-phone with Q-Link (a Life-Line provider), so that service is free (and seems to be dependable enough for my needs).

I am fortunate that the electrical grid here seems to be very stable. I have not suffered a power outage longer than a few hours since living in my current home (about seven years). Many of the changes I have made have been forced on me by economic necessity but I have the entertainment services I want with dependable communications and great Internet connectivity.

The end result is that I can pay for the services I have, I can watch the T.V. shows I want to see, and I can get on the Internet with good connectivity when I want to do so. My set-up may not be ideal for everyone, but after all it is an evolutionary work-in-progress and it works for me.

We (my wife of 61 years and I) still have a landline, mainly “use it” to ignore Robocalls. We use Tracfone for our cellular needs, which are rare, almost non-existent. Tracfone used to cost $6.95 per month, but went to $105 annually when we were forced to buy Android phones, which, literally, have minds of their own. E.g., Caller ID’s identify me as Jim Campbell (I’m Hal Newman) and my wife as UMASS). Neither Verizon nor Tracfone will take responsibility and fix the problem.… How do you know that this is true. Because I couldn’t make it up! Nobody could! … So far, the one or two times a year that we need to use the Tracfone, it has worked.

No fibre where I live and cell service is spotty once you get out of town. POTS is reliable and continues to work even when the power goes out. Just make sure you have a corded phone plugged in to the jack in the wall. And copper is also how I get my Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line service to the house.

Currently have FiOS for phone & internet. Initially cell service was a big issue because I apparently live in a "dead" zone. Dropped calls from T-Mobil, Verizon, and AT&T. While on AT&T I accidently discovered my latest cell phone supported WiFi calling. TOTALLY SOLVED MY CELL PHONE PROBLEM. As long as the provider & the cell phone support WiFi calling I now can use any carrier. Thought this may help others.

I read in your column that "...an AT&T rep told one customer they are no longer planning on phasing out landlines in the near future, and will not discourage people from ordering landlines."
Because of renovation of my apartment in 2018, I had to move upstairs to a new unit. I liked my landline that worked when the power went out and DSL was just fine for email and occasional surfing. AT&T told me I had to get Uverse, period.

When the power fails area wide cell towers are out. Local cable etc. is out. I will keep my dial phone and copper wire as long as possible. it works with no electric. Do wonder if 911 centers will work. May have to get a two way radio tuned to the local police--their cars should still have radio. I am an old dog and do not like these new tricks.

My wife needs a hearing assisted phone (supplied at no charge by the state). Unfortunately, it will only work with POTS. Before cutting the copper, AT&T MUST come up with a solution to this issue.

"Despite the obvious advantage of portability, mobile phones have their drawbacks. Call quality on landlines is superior to cellular in most cases." I'm in Australia - same issues as in the US. But listening to the radio, you can ALWAYS tell when someone calls in from a landline. Clear. Unambiguous.Entirely understandable. Cell phone? Often fades in and out; background noise; poor reception. Ambiguous and often virtually unrecognisable. It will be a sad day when landlines disappear!

2%, hmm, makes me wonder if the numbers are skewed by people miss-understanding the question? What about all the people living in remote areas, how good is their mobile service? I cannot see POTS disappearing anytime soon. Here in Canada we have huge areas with no mobile coverage. With loss of service we'd only be left with satellite service, I won't even talk about the far north.

Considering that my landline is so much clearer and reliable, I will hold out and continue using it as long as possible. Meanwhile, I agree with Stephe, where Google's voicemail messages to text is very CREEPY! I also have a great disdain for the Big Tech, power-hungry weirdos in Silicon Valley, which are run mostly by a bunch of psychopaths.

I got rid of the over priced and taxed landline years ago. I have a cell phone, and a VOIP phone service. Pay as you go, costs $3.95 a month and 1.5 cents per minute. Callcentric

As we don't get viruses etc on landline I'll stay with it as long as I can, the problem will be they will offer a basic service which will be so poor it will eventually force consumers onto the expensive plan which will probably work ok, but it's a backwards step

My landline phone is now connected via the internet FiberOp.
When the Internet service is down I lose my phone service. Not a good idea for emergency situations. Landlines are still powered even during a power outage. Now no internet, no phone service. Battery backup is only good for 4 hours.
I had to buy a cell phone and $130 a month plan with internet for emergencies. BUT if the cell towers lose power I don't have any cell phone service at all.
It is dangerous to totally rely on wireless technology and the internet. Both are wide open to Cyber attacks which can shut down industries and an entire country's communications capabilities.
It is a stupid plan to discontinue hard wired landline phone and communications systems.
Wirless cell and Internet are NOT reliable in an emergency situation.
Satellites are exposed to Cyber attacts and physical attacks from assassin satellites.
Humans have become too reliable on and trusting of wireless and internet technology.

POTS = Greatest invention ever.
If it was not for those lines inside the walls that they used to put in older houses, I would have never been able to fish all my CAT6 cables without ripping out all the walls, in hour 2-story house. I even went one step further and also ripped out the copper telco cabling all the way to the pole. It was a feel-good experience, like getting a Covid vaccine; Taking all that copper wiring to the recycle-center was even more exciting since it marked my final and permanent "detachment" from AT&T.

Some voip systems had trouble with local 911 and other emergency calls. How does the provider know what's local and where to route the call? It would be best to find out before abandoning the landline.

Relying solely on cellular is not an option for many of us who live in rural areas under served (or unserved) by cell towers. It is an unusual day when I can get a cell signal where I live. I would love to give up my landline because the cost continues to rise.