Hey, guess what? I'm an employee of AT&T and the following is my opinion... Most of you don't realize that your phone company doesn't love you. I know, I know, even after you've given them all that money for years. They feel no obligation to you nor your desire to have your existing landline repaired if the storm knocked it out this morning. Oh, they might tell you they'll fix it in a week or two... the old 24 hour out of service rule is long gone!
I've been awake since about 5:30am when the weather radio started sounding. The line of severe storms that moved through our area caused multiple reports of over 70MPH winds with numerous reports of trees down. Interstates were blocked along with U.S. Hwy 280 and Alabama Hwy 119, just to name a few. The meteorologist say this is just the first round and that other storms should fire up this afternoon. Since I'm "off" today(AT&T doesn't like paying overtime), all I can do is stay home and blog.
So, how does AT&T really feel about your landline? They petitioned the FCC in 2009 to remove regulatory requirements that they support a landline network and even asked for a drop dead date for killing the service. So why would they buy such a great landline company like BellSouth? Easy, for it's wireless holdings! Cell phones are all they really want. It is pretty obvious from the way they treat employees that they really don't even want us. Which is unfortunate, since we help them make their billions of dollars every year.
The old fashioned landline is a good thing to have around. Any call to 911 can be identified by address instantly. It works 99% of the time when the power to your house doesn't. Home and business alarm systems depend on them to alert local law enforcement of trouble. Voice quality is excellent, much better than cell phones. While using a landline phone, there are no radiation waves affecting your brain. Landlines are secure, no one can listen in on your calls. You also have mobility of use around your home if you have a cordless phone. Overall, a landline is a very good product. So why do away with it?
Well, as usual, it is about money. If you decide to disconnect your home phone it would be a simple matter to call and place the request. However, if you decide to disconnect a cell phone, you better get your wallet out to pay the penalty for breaking your two year contract. And guess what, you'll always have a contract, thats why they give you those cool upgrades on the phones. Those phones with the data charges which add up to much more than a landline.
Companies change technology for more profits. I was a coin collector with BellSouth when they made the decision to stop providing coin phones to the public. I didn't understand it then. Those heavy coin boxes were still being returned full on each pickup. The money from coin phones was still coming in, but ending the service did something else. It made the average consumer purchase a cell phone since coin phones were no longer available. When they eventually turn off your home phone, you'll have to buy a cell card for your computer(2nd cell line) or have to depend on your regular cell phone more. That might make you want a fancy phone that costs much more. Moreover, the profit margin is higher for cell phones than land lines and without all those high paid union people having to get involved.
Your landlines are a little more expensive due to a FCC charge to subsidize rural telephone lines. AT&T has also asked for that fund to be restructured to help pay for the national infrastructure they want. Or in other words, "Goverment, please help us build our network so we can make more profits"! Probably, the government will do it just for it's ability to track & listen in on mobile phones. It's a "big brother" thing. It was funny that a recent arrest of a gambling magnate revealed he was purchasing a new cell phone every three days and promised one caller, "they can't listen in on this phone"... yeah, right! He ended up confessing his crimes thanks to Government tapping his NEW cell phone!
Fight for your landline, it's a good thing!
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