General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: “The telephone network is obsolete”: Get ready for the all-IP telco (AY&T wants to screw YOU) [View all]Xithras
(16,191 posts)The only difference is that I now have a slightly larger box mounted to the outside of my house where the old telco box used to be, and I have a battery backup box inside my house that has to be replaced once every few years (to keep the system running during a power failure). I didn't have to change the handset, the phone number, or anything else. AT&T has been selling UVerse Voice for years now, and few people have had any real problems with it (unless you have an old fashioned alarm box, in which case you need to upgrade that old thing to a newer Internet based model anyway).
Nostalgia is no reason to stick with an old technology. IP phones work fine, and they still require real people to maintain the boxes, wires, and equipment. If it requires less people, it's simply because the newer hardware is more reliable and efficient, so it doesn't need as many hands to keep it operating.
The real threat to the telco unions isn't VoIP, it's cellphones. I can't name one person under 30 who actually has a landline in their house. I'm over 30, but even my landline isn't used for incoming calls anymore...it's primarily just for visitors to use and for outgoing calls. The incoming number routes through Google voice, so if anyone calls my home, it rings my cellphone and my wifes cellphone simultaneously instead. As neat as the technology is, I only maintain it AT ALL because I'm still transitioning people to my Google voice number. Once I get everyone transitioned to the new number, I'll probably just shut it off completely and save the $20 a month.
If you look at the telco numbers, they clearly show that they're hemmoraging landline customers at the younger end of the market. Most younger people today buy landline services for data, not voice, and there's nothing to indicate that the trends will shift anytime soon.