AT&T proposes ending California landline service, customers want to keep lifeline

KTVU Fox 2 via Youtube ^ | February 7, 2024 | KTVU Staff

[thecodont]

A proposal by phone and internet service provider, AT&T, to end landline service for most Californians is drawing backlash.

[daniel1212]

We use LL from Comcast: only cheap way to make all phones ring at once with immediate connection to all.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Thank you for bringing up that it’s nice to have multiple phones at the same time ringing to get anyone who is in the household!

I think I’m the only one who lists this as an advantage of landline. Little appreciated.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Nice of AT&T.

Verizon forced us into that battery back-up with their FIOS fiber optic. They just HAD to “update”.

I listed why landline in my first reply here. But noted immediately the advantage you mention was taken away from us.

[Paladin2]

“....There are huge areas that there is no signal...”

Even along miles of US highways.

5G doesn’t help at all.

[ridesthemiles]

Cell service is iffy where I live in rural Nevada.

HAVE HAD A LAND LINE SINCE 1958.

Have paid my bill faithfully.

Get a printout of my calls so I can keep rack of clients for my bookkeeping service.

I DO NOT want a CELL PHONE. I do not need to KEEP UPGRADING MY PHONES DUE TO “MORE “G’s”.

The only constant in my life has been a LAND LINE.

Have had over 20 years to have made that choice.

[ridesthemiles]

I DO NOT

NEVER HAVE HAD ONE

DO NOT WANT ONE

$22 phone on table for lane line is fine.

Answering machine—about $15 works fine.

[ridesthemiles]

Have not had pay TV for over 30 years.

DON’T need it

Have NEVER had a CELL PHONE

LIVING ON SOC SEC is hard enough-—

DO NOT NEED SYSTEM THAT REQUIRES “NEW PHONE” TO KEEP UP WITH “MORE ‘G”S”

Some cell phone stuff is spotty around me.

I can drop my phone for my land line & it still works.

NOT like dropping a cell phone.

I DO NOT NEED “ALL THAT TECHNOLOGY”.

[ridesthemiles]

Are you using a ‘walk around’ phone system in your house that is powered by electricity?

IF so-—You cannot ‘get any usage’ when power goes out.

I HAVE LAND LINE-—direct into the wall-—NO “WALK AROUND SYSTEM”. I can use 50’ extension cord & carry phone to whatever room I am in.

POWER goes out???

I STILL HAVE WORKING PHONE

[AbolishCSEU]

Yep. although I don’t have a landline, I routinely am in a -119dBM zone aka my house which I run a biz out of. I have to use a wifi booster with my cell phones and google voice number. TMobile stinks and I refuse to pay Verizon prices.

[ridesthemiles]

NO SUCH SERVICE WHERE I LIVE RURAL-—AND I AM NOT AS FAR OUT AS MANY OTHERS.

[ridesthemiles]

JUST WHAT WE ALL NEED——ANOTHER “BATTERY” INSIDE OUR HOMES

[AbolishCSEU]

Yep 5G is useless in most of my county. TMobile brags they have the largest 5G network; great for urban areas and that’s about it

[AbolishCSEU]

I recently retired from being in IT. My son, daughter in law and granddaughter have an alexa or google home speaker in their house. It’s an abomination and I refuse to get one.

It’s listening in to everything you say. If I try to get street addresses from my phone, it chimes in! Scary.

[the OlLine Rebel]

This is not because we have remote phones. It’s because Verizon will not support self-powered telephone cables on “older” houses forced to change to FIOS.

But yes, we have remote systems, but we have 1 true corded telephone. Always a “back-up”.

Unfortunately, along with the remotes, it will not work after some time on the back-up if power goes out. Thanks, Verizon.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for mentioning your land line cell phone situations.

I’ve been a gadget freak my whole life, so a cell phone was
right in line with my interest in new electronics and other
things.

You have chosen to go with land lines, or the land lines
work better in your region. Sorry if this is going to
make things difficult with you.

Take care...

[radu]

At least they aren’t threatening to end landline service everywhere. I figure it’ll happen one day but with luck, that’s a long way down the road.

[jimfr]

I don’t have by choice, more freedom without. Lately because of health I have been urge to get one by a few people.

[MayflowerMadam]

I miss my landline we had before AT&T installed fiber optic in our area. When that happened, we lost landline service when there was a power outage. Before that, you could still call when the power went out.

[Fury]

Re: 79 - Used it while on AD. Call quality was so-so, but usable.

[Fury]

Re: 66 - As long as copper lines are available, we will use them for specific applications.

911 is a good example. We have not had good luck with 911 trunks over fiber when power goes out. The fiber mux needs power, etc.

Any day I can rely on tip and ring, I will do so until that is not available. All trunks in our 911 loop are currently copper.

A dated data point but in the 2003 Power Blackout, at least in these parts the cell phone service simply could not handle the load. Land lines fared better. Yes, you could still get a reorder, but by and large, calls could be completed.

Obviously there have been improvements in cellular infrastructure and carriers such as ATT offer their FirstNet service that provides preemption for First Responders, IT, etc. My guess is that the outside copper plant has been so poorly maintained in the last 20 years that a similar power outage in 2024 would expose more gaps where copper once ruled.