The number of landline telephones (POTS) is on the decline in the U.S., which is bad news for the likes of AT&T and Verizon since they still depend on their landline business for much of their total revenue.
Take AT&T, which gets a whopping 32 percent of its total revenue from POTS. The latest numbers from the FCC show that there’s 163 million landlines in the U.S. as of June, 2007, compared to 262 million wireless subscribers. As more and more people ditch their landline for whatever reason—no need for it anymore, crappy economy necessitates cost-cutting, etc.—these companies have to come up with ways to offset the loss.
That’s part of the reason why you’re paying what you’re paying for text messages.
Fact: I haven’t had a landline for about three years now. Why would you at this point?
I still have a home POTS, but all extra cost services including long distance and caller ID have been removed. Now, it’s only for the FAX machine and the convenience that offers. A 100 minute calling card suffices for the rare long distance call. Because of regulations, doctor’s offices cannot email medical information, but they can FAX it. Is there a home FAX solution that does not require a POTS?
That’s the same question I have, Tim.
I only have a POTS line for my fax machine, what’s the work around.
I don’t know where you live, but for me the progression of outages due to weather events is: Cable -> Power -> Landline (POTS). Plus in a major event (tornado, ice storm), cell towers are rather vulnerable. I would like to dump my AT&T landline as I hate their illegal wiretapping with all my might, but practicality rules it out.
@TimB and @Alex,
I use MyFax.com. Cost is $10 per month, but what is nice is that you get the faxes via PDF attachments in your email. You can also send faxes by attaching dozens of files to an email and then sending it to [phonenumber]@myfax.com.
It works reliably and I have been using them for about a year or so.
I have not affiliation with them, just a happy user.
When dropping a Landline (POTS) the issue is the loss of the telephone number which is the persons identity. NumberGarage(TM) solves this problem. I know of people who forward their NumberGarage(TM) number to their GrandCentral number.
I do have an affiliation with NumberGarage(TM).
@Joel Strellner,
Thanks for the info. MyFax is interesting, though it is not much of a cost difference when compared with my POTS. I am in the Chicago suburbs and, with all optional services removed, I only pay $14/month for my POTS. Now, if there were a counted option (like calling cards) instead of a monthly fee, it would be much more attractive. It’s good to have options, though.
@TimB,
True, but you get a toll-free number with it too. It may not be that much of a benefit for the use you described, but for many, like myself, it is a good selling point.
I do believe that there are a few services that do a pay as you go structure, but for our needs it wasn’t beneficial so we went with MyFax. Sorry, I don’t have any recommendations for who those services are though.