[Discuss] AT&T eliminating copper phone lines

[bill at horne.net (Bill Horne)]

On 3/28/2017 3:34 PM, Daniel Barrett wrote:
> On March 28, 2017, Dan Ritter wrote:
>> 1, 2 and 3 are all variations on 4 [eliminating the landline]
> Oh god. Does this mean that fiber optic lines, when they replace
> copper lines in the home, reduce the voice quality to that of a cell
> phone? (If so, I'm screwed for life. I cannot make out 50% of cell
> phone conversations, even with hearing aids.)

No, they don't degrade it to the quality of a cellular call, but they 
don't improve it nearly as much as they could, either. If you've ever 
had the pleasure of using ISDN telephone service, you'd be astonished at 
how far back in last last century "POTS" voice quality really is, and VZ 
is probably afraid that having ISDN quality on their FiOS offerings 
might cut into cellular sales, which are the most profitable part of the 
parent company's earnings.

> I'm checking on Vonage. (But Vonage has other difficulties, like the 
> fact that the phone lines are in the basement and the FIOS router is 
> on the third floor, so I'd have to hire an electrician to run cables 
> to the Vonage box, and then bring in the alarm company to hook up 
> their stuff.)

Well, you didn't hear this from me, but if the wire in the cellar was 
cut, you could simply run a telephone extension cord from the Vonage box 
to one of the jacks in your apartment and it would "backfeed" the other 
jacks. If the alarm company uses the phone line to signal an alarm, then 
the alarm would work too. Mum's the word. ;-)

Bill Horne