AT&T wants out of landline business

[demoleft]

Source: afp

AFP - US telecom giant AT&T has asked US regulatory authorities to waive a requirement that it and other carriers maintain costly landline networks.
...

AT&T said the high costs of maintaining the legacy phone network were "diverting valuable resources, both public and private, that could be used to expand broadband access and to improve the quality of broadband service."

The company said it was being forced to "dedicate substantial resources to an antiquated network and outdated service."

AT&T said that with the rise of cellphones and Internet communications such as VoIP less than 20 percent of Americans now rely exclusively on landlines for voice service and 25 percent have abandoned them altogether.


Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/node/4959437

[ixion]

1. remove the word "landline" from that title and I think they've got something

the world would be a better place, because AT&T sucks.

[robcon]

2. I've had AT&T cell phone coverage since it was Cingular. I like it.

n/t

[Tikki]

5. Yep....like mine, too.

Tikki

[DRoseDARs]

11. I've had AT&T cell coverage since it was AT&T Wireless, then Cingular, then AT&T again.

I miss my analog-based calls; fuck this digital signal crap.

[MessiahRp]

45. I have too but their service is ridiculously overpriced...

Like my son has a phone. I only have it for me and him to communicate. It is used once a day for 2 minutes. Yet they will not allow me to have him on a plan that costs less than $60/mo. So between his phone and my iPhone, I pay $140 a month. Highway robbery.

Rp

[we can do it]

80. Me Too - Connected with all my friends

[bigwillq]

81. Me too

I've been very happy with their cell phone service.

[nookiemonster]

8. Actually, it's not that bad.

Perhaps I've been fortunate, but I've never had an issue that isn't resolved quickly.

:shrug:

[superconnected]

65. hahahaah good post!

:rofl:

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

76. I got kicked off AT&T

Their coverage in Orange County is so bad I was always roaming on T-Mobile, and from what I hear this has not improved since then.

[hobbit709]

3. I like my landline

It works when there's no power. They just want to soak everyone on the bandwith BS on cell phones.

[racetoinfinity]

27. mine too

Agreed. I live in hurricane country, and I want a reliable phone connection when the power's out; I also have some medical problems, and if I need an ambulance when there's a power outage, a landline is the only reliable means. ATT is already soaking me for its services - frick 'em. They need to maintain their land lines.

[connecticut yankee]

54. I use mine whenever possible for local calls

I use the cellphone for toll calls, because there's no extra charge.

However, the reception is lousy on cellphones, and I always hear people saying "You're breaking up."

If cellphone reception were as good as landline, I would probably abandon the latter. But I don't envision that in the near future.

[Thegonagle]

66. Me as well. The sound quality is always better than any cell phone, and no "breaking up." nt

[dflprincess]

105. So do I

and my cell phone just doesn't work well inside my apartment.

[Hannah Bell]

115. me too. it works when there's no power is a big plus.

[POAS]

4. This makes little sense...

Internet and VoIP both require a system of "landlines" which are shared with "the legacy phone network."

I think what they are really trying to do is off load the maintenance and updating costs onto the public sector while maintaining their ability to utilize those "landlines". Socializing costs while privatizing profit.

[MrsBrady]

10. you might be onto something there

because their own "modern" business of U-verse depends on the land line fiber that was run to deliver the internet and digital TV.

[POAS]

12. And that service is NOT

available to me because they haven't upgraded the "landlines" in my community. I can't get the highest speed DSL connection for the same reason. It really bugs me because I know darned well that the hospital 1/2 mile away has, at least, a good T1 connection.

Time Warner Cable is in the same boat here. Trying to use outdated copper wire that is decades old to provide data, digital phone and HDTV while not willing to spend on improvements to the infrastructure.

[WriteDown]

47. You could have a T1 line run to your house. nt

[POAS]

82. Yea right, probably be cheaper to move..

:shrug:

[gmoney]

41. Landlines are more secure.

I don't trust cell phones or VOIP to transmit credit card or other sensitive information.

And doesn't law enforcement (and anyone else) pretty much need a court order to listen in on a landline?

This is like people saying we should dismantle the Post Office because it's not profitable, and instead pay UPS or FedEx $10 or $15 to deliver letters.

[pimpbot]

42. No they aren't

If I wanna listen to your telephone call on your POTS (plain old telephone system) "landline", all I have to do is open up the telco box on your street, plug in my butt set (basically a telephone with two wires coming out of it), and probe each line until I find yours. Or if good records are kept, I could probably just trace out your pair. There is no encryption at all.

To listen to a cell call, you need to be able to demodulate the digital signal, then process it back into voice. There is high end equipment out there to do it, but you cant just go down to best buy and get it. Additionally, most providers encrypt the voice. Also, you must be in range of the handset to hear voice from the person talking on the phone. You must be within range of the tower that handset is communicating with to listen to the other end of the conversation.

VoIP is a little less secure since your call is traversing the Internet. Still it is encrypted and your call must be "found" and processed among the sea of other data.

[happyslug]

59. His comment was the LEGALLY of it not the ability to do so

Yes, it is easy to tap into a land-line, but the courts have drawn a big LEGAL line between them. As to landlines, the Police need a Search warrant for they is an expectation of privacy that goes back decades to the days of the operator (AT&T did NOT permit its operators to listen in to calls and people came to accept that as did the courts).

As to cell phone the courts have ruled those to be like old fashioned CBs and other two way radios, since those are broadcast from its reception they was never an expectation of privacy so the Police can listen in WITHOUT a Search Warrant. Notice the difference, it is NOT the technology but the idea that Cell Phones are NOT like landlines but more like two way radios and everyone can listen to to such conversations. Landlines, on the other hand, there has always been an expectation of privacy as regard to the call (Even in the days of operators) so that the need for a search warrant is required.

The courts have viewed both types of phone lines, even if both end up being "broadcast" (i.e. via microwave or other technology) or via a "land-line" the courts have ruled on what people EXPECT (or have come to expect) in regards to both types of phones is the key to the need for a warrant. The general rule is that to tap a land-line the Police need a Warrant (and to get a warrant must have Probable cause) but as to Cell Phone and Two way radios no such warrant is needed for there can be no expectation of privacy given HOW the technology works.

[Thor_MN]

60. Most cell calls are protected only by frequency shifting and that has recently been broken

It takes about $2K of equipment, and being in the right location, but cell calls that rely only on channel hopping (reportedly most of them) have only security by obscurity now.

[Hannah Bell]

116. you can do the second at a distance, however.

[Tesha]

63. I think you're misunderstanding the difference between "the local loop" and long-haul trunks.

Cell phones *DO NOT* depend on local loops; individual house
phones and the like depend on that. Basically, a local loop
is a pair of copper wires that carries one phone circuit
for one phone call at a time.

Cell sites connect via so-called carrier systems that pack
a lot more than a single phone call into one pair of copper
wires or, nowadays, much more often, a glass fiber. These
connections are much-more-properly considered part of the
long-distance systems and that's not what AT&T is discussing
here.

There's no doubt that land lines are going to be far less
popular in the near future so AT&T is doing what's right
for their business interests. The only question really is
how well the cellular network will perform in large-
scale emergencies when everyone wants to make a call at
the same time. So far, cell systems haven't done all that
well in those sorts of situations.

Tesha

[Grassy Knoll]

6. One ringy dingy......Oh My !!

[KT2000]

7. Umm, NO!

I cannot get a decent signal for cell phones where I live. It was only a few years ago that a 911 call on a cell phone did not go to Canada.
My brother changed back to his landline phone and the difference is amazing. No more buzzing and static.

There is something up here.

[enlightenment]

9. But I LOVE my landline.

That I use with my phone that has a cord. It's clear and sparkly and always works.

:((

[regnaD kciN]

32. Also, it stays on during emergencies such as power failures...

...and won't stop because you can't get your battery charged.

[Tesha]

67. Yours may; ours doesn't always.

We're behind a concentrator that serves about 1,600
homes and it runs from local utility power, not central
office power. It's got a battery, but it won't stay up
for more than a very few hours after the utility power
fails. After that, we either lose landline service or
FairPoint Telecommunications rolls up with their truck
containing a generator and plugs in to power-up their
concentrator.

Last winter, when New England had that tremendous
ice storm, with the total wipe-out of utility power
in our region, we eventually lost all of landline,
cellular, and cable internet/phone service. Oddly
enough, Comcast managed to bring their network back
up again first, and they did it by chaining little
Honda generators to each of the utility poles that
held their repeaters. I think cellular was back next,
and finally FairPoint got our concentrator back up
again. The FairPoint guys then spent nearly a week
camped out at the bottom of our block minding the
truck with the generator.

Tesha

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. They might as well. They're (AT&T) useless.

Who ever heard of a freakin' phone company without the ability to receive a customer's phone calls? I had to live chat to get customer support.

[NJGeek]

14. Why should AT&T be *required* to stay in a business they don't want to?

AT&T of today is basically Cingular, rebranded after they bought out the shell of a company AT&T in order to transform their brand.

We do live in a regulated, capitalist ystem, I can't see why AT&T shouldn't be allowed to get out of this business. There will still be carriers in areas that are not served or underserved by VOIP networks, because they can still maintain their sanction monopolies (and their requirements to maintain the network for the greater good in return for that monopoly).


For all the hemming and hawing about how we need to regulate industries, we can't have it both ways. By allowing AT&T and others to focus on broadband and mobile, we will have more high speed internet connectivity available as they compete hard in the broadband and mobile markets.

[SharonAnn]

16. There are places where cell phone coverage is spotty - mountains, valleys, hills.

[NJGeek]

18. There would be VOIP there

I don't think anyone is talking about ripping out all the copper in favor of wireless *only*.

Fiber. Fiber. Fiber.

[POAS]

22. What ATT wants is to

socialize the infrastructure (copper and fiber optic) while still enjoying the benefits and profits from using them.

The copper is increasingly inadequate and replacing the copper is costly.

[Ignis]

100. +1

If you think AT&T is doing this out of a sense of altruism, I have a bridge to sell you.

[RobinA]

104. Uhmmm...

Howza 'bout some stimulus jobs here.

[snagglepuss]

23. There if is only voip if there is reliable hi speed internet. So that

means people need to pay for voip plus internet. Furthermore voip is not nearly as reliable as landline.

[unc70]

36. VoIP is far less reliable than old technology land lines

Much more costly to install than wireless. Relatively costly to maintain.

I understand the economic issue facing AT&T, et al. Maintaining the telephone infrastructure is just one of many examples where the dramatic shift in technologies with computers, internet, business practices, retailling, etc. are stressing the ability of suppliers to maintain systems that everyone depends on but no one is willing to pay for. Hard to even stay in business.

For example, the companies that developed large pieces of computer and software underpining things like water and power systems are now struggling to survive. They did reasonably well 15+ years ago selling to new customers, but once the demand was met for new sales (market saturation) few of their customers were willing to pay for maintenance/support or anything else because the installed systems were reliable, working, and invisible to almost everyone.

The engineers with institutional knowledge, the suppliers of spare parts, the programmers who understand the control systems, they are disappearing and not being replaced. You don't know what is being lost until you reach a crisis. By then it is nearly impossible and very expensive to replace what had been lost. Think about passenger railroads.

[MadHound]

97. Fiber is great if you're in a concentrated population area

Out here in the boonies, there is no such thing as fiber yet.

[DBoon]

21. or the inside of my house...

1920s construction, plaster walls.

No cell phone coverage.

I have to go out in the front yard to make or receive calls

[totodeinhere]

74. Don't worry, if AT&T left the landline business they would just sell it to someone else.

Landlines aren't going away anytime soon. The players may change, but that's business for you.

[bowens43]

43. 'for profit'

'for profit' is exactly why we lag behind most of the industrialized world in all of these services.

[RobinA]

103. Is AT&T

no longer a "utility," allowed certain leeway in return for a certain lack of freedom when it comes to necessary provision of service. I'm asking, I don't know. Capitalism has never totally been applied to utilities, because they are considered to be part of the public good. Kind of an admission that capitalism doesn't work for the public good, if you ask me.

[bhikkhu]

15. How quickly things change!

I shut off my landline years ago, after a long dispute over why I had to pay extra to not have a long distance service attached, which needed a big deposit.

But that there would be no long-term support for the infrastructure, or that it would go downhill so quickly, that I never suspected.

[msongs]

17. cell phones COST MORE and make more $$$ for ATT is the only reason why ,,,

we have an att landline and its cheap. ATT cell (as are all other cells) are ripoffs across the board. My euoropean amigos constantly laff at how we are screwed by US phone companies.

Msongs

[TommyO]

46. Not to mention it's a way for AT&T to get rid of union workers that support their landline network

This is a union-busting move among other things.

[WriteDown]

51. See post 37 for how it works. nt

[WriteDown]

52. See post 37 for how it works. nt

[SharonAnn]

72. And landlines are regulated tightly.

[Lorien]

19. Another way to screw the poor. nt

[IndianaGreen]

20. Exactly. Telephone service, what is now called land line, is the cheapest

means of communication. Poor and low income people would get killed by the many fees cell phone companies charge.

[proudohioan]

62. Thank you!

I'm unemployed and LUCKY enough to live in a state that carries AT&T lifeline program. I have a BASIC landline with absolutely NO FRILLS (ie, caller ID, call waiting, etc..) that costs me $8 per month. The only reason that I even KNEW about this service is from my girlfriend in Iowa who works for the AT&T Lifeline program. If it weren't for this Lifeline program, I wouldn't be able to have phone service at all. Cell phone? I can't afford one right now. Anyone that is on ANY form of Public Assistance or is unemployed (AT&T only requires a written statement from you)may be eligible. Depends on the state that you live in; my daughter lives in Colorado and the program is not available there.

[ngant17]

73. AT&T is playing smoke and mirrors again

AT&T lost 21 percent of wireline over the last four years, due to competition from cable and cell phones. Nevertheless, AT&T company saw an increase of $12.9 billion in profits in 2008, a billion dollars more than in 2007.

AT&T has a massive monthly revenue stream from millions of cell phone users, from landlines, from U-Verse, from business services division, corporations pay AT&T every month for their networks. As bad as the economy is, most people are not giving up their cell phones. Generally they're not giving up their DSL or their U-verse home entertainment that they pay for every month. Business's might cut staff but they're not going to get rid of the AT&T network that is the backbone of their existence.

As for the landline business, wireline is not dead, not even close. U-verse is more expensive then pots but from the node it still runs over the same copper pairs that pots(plain old telephone service) runs
over. Granted that wireline or pots service dwindled down 21% over 4 years but that was about the same time AT&T started pushing dry loop dsl and U-verse. Pots services weren't actually lost, about 3/4s of the 21% loss mentioned above, the pots lines were upgraded to the more expensive dsl or U-verse service.

Here's an idea. If the price of copper is getting too high, then Pres. Obama should recommend that the US Mint stop stamping out pennies and have them diverted for more important uses, i.e., communications cabling. We rationed this in WWII (remember the 1943 steel pennies?), we were fighting on 2 war fronts simultaneously. In worst case, nationalize the landline business altogether. Then merge these CWA workers into AFSCME.

[quiller4]

109. I pay less for my prepaid cell service than I used to pay for a landline. n/t

[David Zephyr]

24. Here's a solution: Make every American buy a telephone from them and 10 years service.

And call it telecommunications reform.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

39. LOL

[boppers]

91. Well played! eom

[BlueCollar]

25. Screw them...

ATT needs to understand that not everything is about them making a profit...

[NJGeek]

26. Wha?? They are a publicly traded corporation.

They aren't a non-profit, or NGO. They exist solely to make profit.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

40. Bullshit. Can you grasp the concept of a utility that uses public infrastructure?

[WriteDown]

48. The US govt builds and maintains phone lines? nt

[NJGeek]

53. Public infrastructure?

Since when was the copper POTS system public infrastructure?

And if it was, wouldn't you want the public to control it, and have unionized workers running it, instead of "for profit" AT&T?

[Tesha]

68. What public infrastructure? Who do you figure owns the "telephone" poles and the copper wire? (NT)

[FlaGranny]

107. Nobody.

At least "nobody" owns one of those poles when it is falling down. AT&T claims the electric company owns it and the electric company says AT&T owns it.

[No Elephants]

28. In the much touted antitrust "break up of ATT," ATT won by getting rid of its costly local

service and keeping only the much more profitable long distance service. (An inlaw of mine was a lawyer in ATT's Basking Ridge inhouse legal department then).

The deal was so good for ATT and so bad for the government that, when the judge asked the government attorney to describe the terms of the settlement the judge was being asked to approve, he suggested that lead counsel for ATT describe them. And the American consumer was sold a bill of goods that the "breakup" was a big victory for American consumers.

Now, ATT is seeking to repeat history, but is being more candid. Or so it would seem.

Who is going to maintain the land lines that made ATT rich?

[Patchuli]

31. AT&T needs to fuck themselves...

I'd like to see 'em crash and burn.

[No Elephants]

34. +1

[Thegonagle]

64. lol That's what they've already been doing for several years now. nt

[Patchuli]

93. Good! Die AT&T

for what you're doing to my man who put 30 years of his life into the phone co and now they're reneging on their promises. I hate them!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Patchuli]

29. Come back Pacific Bell!!! nt

[Patchuli]

30. Yeah and they keep screwing with the retirees

who started it all for them out their in the fields. Promised health insurance for life and free phone service if you put in enough of your good years. First they took the health insurance away from those workers who kept their word and worked their asses off for 30+ years...now they'll take the phone service next. Those were promises that were made to these phone pioneers. Thank God we took our pension away from them (even if Wall Street has now fucked that up.) Damn Clinton for deregulating.

[Ichingcarpenter]

33. Land Lines cost more to maintain and the contract

is not as profitable as a cell contract. Cell Towers vs. Millions of miles of cable? Imagine the crew needed to repair both

Its a no brainer for profit. Doesn't mean its right

[toopers]

37. AT&T loses money on residential lines . . .

unless they can sell other services. The government requires AT&T to sell residential lines below their cost. The original business case forced AT&T to sell residential lines at a loss, and try to make it back on the business lines (haven't you ever wondered why they were more expensive though the technology is exactly the same), or on secondary services like caller ID, et al. This biz plan worked great when there was a monopoly. However, there are a lot of other options now. And none of those other options have significant government requirements to add to the costs.

[WriteDown]

49. Bingo...

I'm surprised at some of the misinformation being touted.

[NashVegas]

56. :(

I have DSL. I wonder what's going to happen with that?

[Ter]

35. In other news the US still wants in in the landmine business

:(

[Demeter]

38. Let the Govt. Run This Basic Utility, and Charge ATT for Using It

then the workers can be union, and civil servants. The public can be assured that the phones will always be there. Business can similarly relax.

Think TVA, think Weather Service, think GPS satellites. Time to make public utilities out of Bushworld privatization projects. Think Army laundry and KP.

[WriteDown]

50. Wouldn't just be ATT...

Would be every phone company and would result in a rise in costs for rural areas which rely on landlines.

[bemildred]

55. It would be whatever the Congress says it is, just like now. nt

[Proud Liberal Dem]

44. I've had At&t wireless for awhile

and I've been satisfied with it. Of course I really don't have any choice in coverage at the moment since I have an iPhone and once that opens up I may explore other options but I feel overall satisfied with my coverage/plan. I almost never get any of my calls dropped nor lose signal. It's been pretty reliable for me so far.

[tomhayes]

57. And I am canceling my iPhone from AT&T

ONLY because the phone portion doesn't work well/at all at my home and at my mother's home.

Plus I had 2 out of 5 calls dropped last time I went to Hollywood.

Cell coverage depends on how many towers, how many people using it, the way the landscape is, the materials in the building you are in, and some voodoo.

AT&T in San Diego is pretty spotty.

I hope Apple can get an iPhone on another network at some point because I love , love, love the internet portion of the phone.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

61. I can't speak for your area

but it works o.k. in my neck of the woods (Indianapolis). I also hope that Apple can get an iPhone on another network as well- just so that I might be able to compare rates/packages and maybe get a better deal. :shrug:

[Heddi]

71. Verizon is going to get the iphone sometime in 2010, after the exclusivity contract with AT&T is up

The good thing about that is that there will now be competition with plan pricing and phone pricing...now with the iPhone there is none.

I had AT&T for landline, cable, internet, and cellphone in some flavor or another over several years. I was completly unsatisfied with them in every aspect....that's why I don't have an iPhone...I LOATHE AT&T. If the iPhone never went to another carrier I would never get one because I refuse, on principle, to give money to AT&T. Fuck them. It's like they get their customer service reps and tehincial support from the lowest rung of the super-max prison complex or some shit.

But I do like Verizon....have been with them for about 10 years. Have a data plan with them with my current phone and it's reasonable, a wee bit cheaper than AT&T's plan for the iPhone. I'm excited about their getting the iPhone!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

83. Cool. I might check into Verizon too.

It will be good for AT & T to have some competition that will maybe help drive prices down a bit.

[Thickasabrick]

58. I thought the jury was still out on whether longterm usage of cell phone

is harmful? I very rarely use my cellphone anymore - only when I travel.

[Tesha]

69. The jury is still out. (NT)

[Libertas1776]

70. They can pry my ancient landline phone...

from my cold, dead hands.

[Paula Sims]

75. I want to keep my landline

For many reasons:
1. The reception is clearer (cell phone usage goes in and out)
2. I don't have to worry about not having a phone charged
3. We have corded connections so we don't have to worry about the issues with cordless
4. How ELSE are we going to get DSL?

This is ridiculous. They just want more money. People like my parents (85+ years old) have no intention of getting a cell phone and wouldn't remember where they put it if they did get one. ATT wants to be a monopoly without having to carry the responsibility of being one. Typical.

[quiller4]

89. We are one of few senior couples in our mobile park that still have a land line.

Most of the rest are snow birds and use only cell service so they have the same phone whether they are in Washington or Arizona.

[LibDemAlways]

92. My 87-year-old mom has a cell phone I bought her several years ago

when my dad was alive and they were still driving around town. I wanted them to have it in case of an emergency. Now she still has the thing, but I'm confident she has no idea how to use it. Landlines are a must for the elderly. My mom has a device connected to hers that allows her to better hear the incoming caller. She couldn't hear anyone with a cellphone to her ear. What a joke.

I also basically only use my cellphone when I'm out and need to contact my teenager. Otherwise the landline continues to serve my needs just fine. And you are right about the DSL. How do they intend to work around that?

[bedazzled]

98. my mom has trouble with cell phones also.

the buttons are too small for her arthritic hands, and
it's too complex for her. i can't afford to get her one
of the special ones.

folks in florida have just gotten a major increase in
landline cost. it's hit the seniors pretty badly.

i just got rid of my landline a few months ago. went to
magic jack -- i can get a phone and high-speed internet
for less than i used to pay for the phone.

[quiller4]

112. My Dad was using a cell phone at 100 n/t

[ZXT]

94. I agree

Older people wants to stick with landlines and thats good for them. While for the most of us who doesn't mind going for the new technology will try VoIP oneway or the other. Everyone in our home uses VoIP service (Onesuite.com) except for our grandparents. We are keeping the landlines just for them.

[cstanleytech]

77. So, does this mean they will be abandoning their DSL service as well because

it uses those landlines.

[kentauros]

78. If anything is "antiquated" it's AT&T's own fault.

I can't say how often they touted "fiber optic service right to the home!" and yet they never delivered on that promise. They spent billions on fiber trunk lines and still couldn't find the money to get that fiber right to the outlet. Maybe they should be nationalized...

[Blue_Tires]

95. +1000

[Politicub]

79. That will go over well - getting rid of one of the most reliable techs ever

I tried VoIP service for voice and dropped it after a few months due to poor call quality and random outages. And don't even get me started on cell phone quality. For a voice call, I'll take landline over VoIP and cell any day.

I think the last time my landline phone service wasn't working was something like five years ago. And whatever the problem was then was minor, since I just needed to unplug and then plug back in the phones in my home.

[roguevalley]

84. well, there goes my phone.

[Dover]

85. I have a question

It seems there are a lot of knowledgable people here so hope you don't mind a question. I have a land line and my computer and telephone share the same line (not separate).
My computer is 56K (which I believe is the speed), but my computer rarely exceeds 26kbps and often is slower than molassas at 14k. I've also lately had difficulty even connecting or staying connected. What responsibility does my phone service have relative to this speed/connection issue and how should I solve the issue (assuming it's solvable)?

[jmowreader]

88. How far are you from the telephone office?

It sounds like one of two things:

you're really far from the Dial Central Office--two or three miles--and the phone lines in your area are old. Get much winter weather? That would do it.

or

there's a failing connection between you and the DCO. Sometimes that failing connection is in your house.

If you have a Siecor Telephone Network Interface box on your house--it's a gray thing with a hinged door that says "Telephone Network Interface" on it--try this: Go to Radio Shack or somewhere and buy a good-quality 25-foot telephone cord. Plug one end into your modem. Open the Siecor box and you will see there's an RJ-11 plug connected to a little block with two screws (for the premises wiring to hook to) for each of the lines coming into the TNI--if you have two phone numbers there will be two connected lines. Unplug the RJ-11, plug your 25-foot phone cord where the RJ-11 once was, and try your modem again. If the speed goes up the problem is in your house.

[Dover]

90. THANK YOU!

I'll try that. And yes, I'm a ways from their office.

My neighbor just told me to try something similar. He said to take the telephone plug that is in my computer out and plug it into my phone. Then call the phone company and ask them to run a line check to see if there is some interference on the line that my computer uses. Your suggestion sounds like it would provide the same results without having to contact them.

I haven't had any trouble with my phone which uses the same line but obviously a different phone plug.

I can't understand it. This has been going on for only about two months, so not sure what's changed in that time.
I've noticed that if the computer is working at a very low speed (say 16k) I can hangup(end the connection) and let it redial a few times and I will often eventually get a faster speed.

[CaliCompadre]

86. ATT service sucks for landlines

Their repair crew is slow and their fees are too high.

[mstinamotorcity]

87. At&t are for profit

When we had the power outage on the east coast for those three days,only land lines worked,which i had at the time and still do. We had cordless phones and we keep a phone with a cord because cordless phones don't work without power. But as far as trusting a t & t please they were in cahoots with the Dubya administration in the warrant less wiretapping. Cell phones no warrant.Landlines need a warrant. But i guess that depends on who is the President.So anything that they try and initiate i would put under the highest scrutiny.IMHO

[Blue_Tires]

96. if the people up top can't figure out how to make it work, maybe they should find new careers

[zonkers]

99. it's aventurous reading threads w/out your glasses. I thought it said want out of landmine business

[bamacrat]

101. The only upside to landline was the ability to use them during power outages.

But since cell phone towers do not rely on the same lines as homes do I get it. When I worked for AT&T landlines were the hardest thing to sell. Why have a landline when you have a phone in your pocket at all times. Plus since most telemarketers and survey takers use landline registries you dont get solicitors calling all the time. My parents, grandmother, and my wifes parents and grandparents are the only ones I know who still use them. Although businesses will always rely on them. It is an old antiquated system that is not as widely used or needed like it once was. What about fax machines they use landlines but then again faxing things isnt what it was 10 years ago due to ease of attaching large files in email. I dont know what my point is but I get where they are coming from.

[skypilot]

102. "Why have a landline when...

...you have a phone in your pocket all the time."

There are plenty of us who don't have a phone in our pocket all the time and who don't like the idea of it either. I still have my landline and it works fine for my needs. I dial and the person I'm calling answers, someone calls me, my landline rings and I answer. That's really all I need. And I wouldn't carry my phone around with me even if it were cordless and could fit in my pocket. There are lots of people who like carrying a phone everywhere and there are lots of people who don't.

[bamacrat]

106. 78% of people over the age of 7 have a cell phone.

If you don't thats cool but you are the minority. Also you shouldn't get a cell phone unless you have all the time. Because even if you get it for an emergency phone, if you dont have it with you it does no good. Landlines are simple and basic which I get but cell phones are more convenient. The crazy thing is if you think too many people in the US have cell phones 115% of Italians over 7 have a cell phone. Many have two lines "business and pleasure". One of the many useless statistics I saw while employed at AT&T.

[FlaGranny]

108. Got both

cellphone and landline. The cellphone is occasionally an "adventure" - almost no reception inside my home. Sometimes doesn't put through calls. Sometimes drops calls. Also, my DSL line wouldn't be possible without my landline. Have VOIP also, but that is no more reliable than the cellphone and cuts out when both people talk at the same time. No one in a rural area would have access to high-speed internet without a land line, unless you consider satellite service high speed (I don't). Love my cellphone, but I wouldn't like going outside to make every call. :-)

[mac56]

110. 115%?!

Really.

[bamacrat]

114. That's what AT&T told us.

They had statistics from all major countries called rate of penetration. I laughed too. Italy was the highest, then Japan, we were 4th or 5th on the list.

[Jokerman]

111. That may explain why they don't want our business.

We just closed the bidding period on a three-year contract for 45 POTS (plain old telephone service) lines that are currently supplied by AT&T.

AT&T didn't even bother to submit a bid.

[Hekate]

113. This is the demise of phones as "public utilities"...Verizon has made it clear to us they don't want

... to maintain the aging phone lines to our house. Not by actually saying so, but by making sure there is only one repair man in about 200 miles. He commutes. Of course he doesn't come inside, but he did twiddle with the fittings in the box outside to see if he could mitigate the static.

You know what the thing is about landline telephones? They run on different wires than your household electricity, and often when the lights go out, the telephone still works.

After the Northridge Earthquake, our electrical power immediately went out. We're 100+ miles from Northridge, but we definitely felt the earth move. Then, poof, no electricity. Fortunately I have gas burners for my stove top.

You know how I got my news about the day's progress? My sister phoned me from Massachusetts and told me what CBS et al were saying on her evening news.

During the Gap Fire last year, the cell towers went up in flames and both the cell phones and the household cordless phones in the neighborhood went fratz. Mr. H got his old rotary phone out of the garage and plugged it in: instant dial tone.

Okay, so I'm getting old. But I am sorry about the death of the idea that there are such things as "public airways" and "public utilities" in general.

Rant end.

Hekate